


Ride, ride my see saw

by ThreeMagpies



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blackout AU, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-14 21:02:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4580025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeMagpies/pseuds/ThreeMagpies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Revolution fic: Charloe, Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Mention of characters from the show including, Ely Gould, the Bookie, Miles, Rachael and Danny Matheson, Aaron Pittman, the Patriots, Tom and Jason Neville, Will Strausser… The story is based on a prompt from the Good Ship Charloe writer’s page – where Bass sees Charlie with the Bookie in Gould’s fight tent in New Vegas and knows she’s the one asking for him…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this… I originally posted this story on FF, but I’ve been meaning to re-edit it for a while as there were a few things I wanted to do a little differently. The story title is taken from a song of that name recorded by the Moody Blues and written by their bass player, John Lodge. The prompt sort of took hold of me and wouldn’t let me go… I hope you like it ☺
> 
> I don’t own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters.

Ride, ride my see-saw…

Sebastian Monroe continued half-heartedly beating the crap out of the latest untrained piece of cannon fodder Gould had lined up for him… bored out of his brain, even though he was genuinely trying to keep things bloody and interesting for tonight’s crowd of vicarious thrill seekers… He got paid a whole lot more if the betting went well for Gould... Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Charlotte Matheson saunter into Gould’s tent, large as life and just as full of spunk as he remembered from Philadelphia and the Tower - and from the lost years before the blackout when she was a little cherub with Matheson grit and determination in every bone…. 

There was no mistake; that face was engraved on his brain… She looked like she’d just walked through hell’s sweaty armpit but she was still beautiful enough to take his breath away and tighten his jeans – especially revved as he was from fighting – even a fight as crap easy as this one… The long, stringy, dirty blond hair clinging around that gorgeous face, her skin gleaming from the heat of the night and the humid, fetid air of the tent. Her cheekbones were a little more defined since the last time he saw her - in the Tower, before the bombs falling on Philly and Atlanta had changed the world – again… the lips full and twisted with a hard smile, the eyes harder too; gaze intent and searching, shadowed in the lamplight… 

His attention was dragged back to the fight as dodo guy got in a lucky one, knocking him sideways and making the crowd roar… Annoyed, Bass lifted an elbow and jabbed dickbrain in the Adam’s apple, the guy falling back, gasping for breath…

Bass searched out and found her again… Her hair was longer, reaching down to the slim waist and it swung in heavy, sweaty waves as she prowled into the crowded tent in a faded blue tank top that showed off her full breasts and taut belly and was bisected diagonally between those breasts by the straps holding her crossbow and bag to her back… His eyes moved down; her jeans were tight enough that they clung like a second skin to her curvy hips and slim legs and a metal chain belt swung at her hips with each step, drawing the eye of every man, and some of the women – in the place that wasn’t watching the fight or fixing on another woman and even some of them turned to look… Damn, he was losing his audience… 

He made a show of punching the air and flexing his pecs to get the eyes back on him as dickhead gathered his cojones for another play…

He sucked in a breath…God… She was all grown up and don’t mess with me attitude… He could feel her reaching out to his fight or fuck (mostly fuck) reflexes like a siren call… and he knew exactly the moment when she spotted him because her eyes fell on him like spotlights from some crazy lookout tower just before she slid behind a group of nondescript scruffy men – out for a night of fun in Vegas…avoiding their drunkenly groping hands with lithe and practised skill…

He checked the crowd as he and the guy took a breather - well the guy did anyway, Bass was still breathing easy. Carefully looking through her – not wanting to give her any sign that he had seen her or that he even knew she was there… 

So where in all hell was Miles? Bass couldn’t believe that his brother (still his brother, no matter what…) would be so fucking idiotic as to let her come to this cesspit of a town without him - would he? But there was absolutely no sign of Miles - or even Rachael… So why was Charlotte Matheson here on her own…? It couldn’t be coincidence - could it...? He felt a painful grinding in his gut… and what had happened to change her so much? She’d been angry before, but somehow innocent, still a girl…. now she was all hard angles and raking curves and fuck with me if you dare…. 

They started the fight up again and he swayed in to let the guy land a blow to his right cheek… The sharp pain (added to all the others on his body and his soul…) woke him up a little and his lips twisted – what could have happened? Apart of course from the deaths of her dad, her little brother and numerous others in her little band of rebels – and then finding out that her mom was a) alive and b) had been kept prisoner by yours truly and c – let’s not forget c - had actually been at least partly responsible for the blackout happening… oh and then there was the little matter of an electrical firestorm and two fucking nuclear bombs… But had something happened to Miles…or her Mother? Did she have even more deaths to blame him for? 

Bass landed an uppercut to dodo guys chin, sending him reeling…but still, unfortunately for him, reeling on his feet.

He needed to know, because if it was about Miles he had to know… and also because by the feel of that hot blue gaze on him, she was here after blood… Monroe’s lips tightened and he coughed out a laugh at the irony of life because here she was reminding him that he wasn’t absolutely alone in the world (however the hell she had found him…) and he was pretty sure she was here to kill him… 

He spat out a little blood from a cut on his lip as he lazily avoided yet another slow, inaccurate jab from the clumsy, tiring and beaten man in the ring with him… Then he landed another one, two of his own… fists landing on flesh with an audible smack and a shudder from the guy that sent aftershocks up his arms… 

But even with a sick feeling in his gut and the dread of finding out that maybe he had to add Miles to his long list of dead and gone’s, Bass felt more alive than he had in months with her right there, almost close enough to touch as he circled the other guy in the ring, feeling her eyes on him, feeling the hate and the lust (for revenge?) in those eyes like a lash on his skin…the intensity of it going like lightening bolts straight down his belly to his dick… 

She’s just made this fight a whole lot more interesting…and damn it he’s happy to give her a show… The crowd roared and yelled as he flashed them a smile and did a little butterfly dance away from the belly shot the guy was sort of aiming at him…

All these months and he hadn’t forgotten her, not for a minute… his last view of her in the tower flashing across his brain as he lazily circled gone guy, piledriving a few more shots in as he did it… 

She’d been lying trapped under that pile of tubes and rubble, her eyes a burning blue in that gorgeous face, furious with him even after he blew a man apart into a million pieces to save her… Then before that, in Philly, before the fucking Patriots blew his city into a million pieces, a more innocent defiance in those eyes when Strausser told Rachel to choose which of her children would die and she demanded that he pick her - not her brother (who had gone and got himself killed later anyway…), hell, she’d been something to see, and he’d known that Rachael would come round; after all, as Miles always said, a good hostage – or two – works every time…

And this Charlotte reminded him so much of Miles, with her walk, her moves… that Bass could tell what she was thinking just by being near her… His eyes narrowed, oh yeah, he knew what she was thinking and it was all about how good it would feel to push her knife into his heart, or have him dead centre in her crossbow sights; to try to end her pain by ending him… 

He wondered how he could tell her that it wouldn’t be as easy as that; that the pain just kept coming… he shrugged…not that she’d believe him anyway…

The guy suddenly rallied, getting in a couple of hits to Bass’ taut belly and ribs, then looking all pleased with himself, idiot… Bass drew some of his attention back to the fight – keeping an eye on her as she wove around the tent and him… and he knew she was working out her next move… 

Did she really think she could come out on top against him? What had happened to her to make her so stupidly reckless? Miles should have taught her better than that… But maybe it was her very own idea; maybe she was gone too far into the war zone of hate and grief to care… 

He felt a curious sense of empathy – and responsibility? Shit… start to wake up again inside him… This was Charlotte Matheson, Miles’ family, courageous and willing to sacrifice herself for those she cared about, and she shouldn’t be walking around with death in her eyes…

There was a wary, resigned look on the other fighter’s face now; he knew he was nearly finished…that he hadn’t even had a ghost of winning this… He still came forward, Bass had to give him that – but then the poor fool didn’t really have a choice, Gould owned him, lock, stock and both balls… 

It was time to put him out of his misery though and Bass moved in for the proverbial; twisting his toned and hardened body with sinuous grace around the guy and landing three fast, crushing jabs to the kidneys then one to the head, letting some of his endless, bottomless anger out to play. The guy fell to his knees, already gone... But Bass hit him another one anyway, and this time the guy went down to stay… 

Bass stood still for a moment, a Gladiator grim smile turning his face into a mask celebrating another bloody triumph – giving the crowd their moment, letting them see the disdain for them in his eyes… Except they didn’t care… they never cared… The noise in the tent rose into cheers, the sound ebbing and flowing… Empty people celebrating or mourning another meaningless victory in an endless string of meaningless victories… He sighed…stretching the kinks out of his neck and back, then ran a hand through his sweat stained curls, leaving bloody streaks behind… 

He looked around for Charlotte without being too obvious about it although he already had a sense of where she’d be… And there she was, the bright glint of diamonds dropping from her hand into the waiting pouch held in Gould’s tame bookie’s greasy hand, her eyes briefly focused on the little man as she did it… But he felt it like a shiver down his skin when her gaze returned to him…

He carefully looked anywhere but at her, his cool, casual gaze moving over and through her as though she wasn’t there… He took his shirt from the tall willowy blond – one of Gould’s girls - who’d been keeping it warm for him, put it on and did up most of the buttons, leaving a few at the top undone – flashing the top of his abs and his muscular neck for crowd appeal. Gould liked it when he showed off his assets…and as he was rolling the sleeves up - showing off his scars too, the blonde asked him something about why he kept fighting… ‘It’s better than my last job…’ he said to the air… She looks a little like Charlotte he realised, but of course isn’t her… She’s sweet and lovely and jaded, but at the moment he can’t remember her name – and he has enough remnants of grace left to feel a little ashamed of that…

Charlotte Matheson was here in New Vegas, Charlotte Matheson… who knew for dead certain, because she had been there at the Tower, that he hadn’t dropped the bombs on his city and on Atlanta but who blamed him for absolutely everything else… Even though it was her own damned mother who had taken the world away and wouldn’t even try to give it back until it was too fucking late – especially for the people in Philly and Atlanta… 

Charlotte Matheson, who just had to open her mouth and mention his name to anyone here to guarantee a good old fashioned lynching - or worse – for Sebastian Monroe but who for some reason hadn’t done that… Then he remembered the look in her eyes as she circled around the tent. It was the look of a predator with a nice juicy rabbit in its sights… So she wanted him all to herself did she? He smiled and licked some blood off his cut lip, the taste and smell of it like the tang of metal and blood from all of the battles he had seen and survived…

The thing she didn’t know, or maybe she did and she didn’t care, was that he had been a predator for a whole lot longer than she had…and he didn’t intend to be anyone’s rabbit…

He felt as though things were at some sort of a balance point… as though something was going to change… He also knew that someone else, someone besides Charlotte Matheson, was watching him… because he could feel their eyes on him too… 

He casually looked around the tent as his blond companion… Jessie, that was her name, Jessie… snuggled up close to his hot, sweat soaked side as they headed for the bar and the roulette wheel, but couldn’t spot anyone else staring at him in that particular way… yet… He focused some attention back on the woman at his side… She was lovely and any other night he would be taking her back to his trailer… He sighed, like most people in this crazy fucking place, Jessie was just looking for someone strong enough to protect her from the feeding frenzy that the world had become… 

He wondered how and why it had come down to this… why had they all failed so badly, the world fallen into a second dark age, he choked back a laugh; dark in more ways than one… and felt his own failure like heavy stones, piled on his back like the skulls of the dead in Philly, in Atlanta, hell, the dead were fucking everywhere…

At the Roulette wheel he put a small pile of diamonds on black, and then lost them all as the wheel stopped on red seven… ‘Wouldn’t have any luck at all if it wasn’t bad…’ he said carelessly to Jessie and she shrugged and said something meant to be comforting, flattering, but he used the need to get some more diamonds from his trailer as an excuse to get away – there were plenty of other, willing, opportunities here for her tonight… She tried to cling onto his arm as he went, but he slipped free and left without a backward glance, then forgot about her… 

He looked around for the bookie – the little guy loved making a deal and often arranged for interested girls to meet the famous Jimmy King after a fight for a price - the most logical move for Charlotte would have been to pay for a meet and greet so that she could get him on his own…

Bass quickly spotted him not far away, making yet another deal in a lifetime made up of deals… He headed over and caught the smaller man’s eye; letting him know he was serious about talking. 

The other deal was closed quickly and the bookie sidled up to Bass, carefully…not getting too close…He had seen what Jimmy King was capable of and didn’t want to provoke him into doing anything like that to him. ‘Hey, Jimmy… I’m glad you came over, I was just coming over to find you…’ his eyes narrowed and a sly grin curved his wide mouth… ‘There’s a sweet little chick wants real bad to meet you…and I hope you’re not too tired ‘cause believe me you’ll want to stay awake for this one…’ 

…………………………………………….

Charlie watched Monroe go to the roulette wheel with the blond woman hanging on his arm like she didn’t have legs of her own, but her mind was still full of the sight of him during the fight… The sweat running down his skin and outlining his bare, heavily muscled, chiselled torso and strong arms in gold from the lamplight… The strikingly handsome - she had to admit it - face was a bit different with a light beard and moustache, but it was him… it was Monroe, just not quite the Monroe she remembered… 

This wasn’t the polished, smooth, totally in control General she had met in Philadelphia; the man who had almost let that creepy psycho Strausser kill her and/or her brother, and then for some reason had saved her life at the Tower, and fought alongside her mom, and Miles, and Nora…? Brave, beautiful Nora…This was a physically astonishing Monroe, who fought like he meant it and won with a brutal and offhand efficiency… 

She had felt something primitive inside her become hungry and urgent during the fight and had had to actually hold herself back from cheering when he won… She hadn’t realised that he could really fight, had thought he was just a figurehead general, and, if she was being honest, and hey wasn’t she always? She had to admit to herself that watching him as he totally ruined the other guy’s day had made her horny as hell… her jeans getting damper and more uncomfortably tight between her legs as the fight went on… 

Sebastian Monroe was amazing to look at and sexy as all get out even when he was only half naked - a vision of him all naked rose fully formed in her brain and she felt a sudden rush of heat to her belly that made her gasp... And she knew that if he was just a guy she met in a bar she would be so coming on to him - or was it because he was who he was that she felt her insides melting with the idea of fucking him… How twisted was that…? Maybe she could fuck him and then kill him and have the best of both worlds… 

Some still young and hopeful part of her wept at that thought and what it said about how far she had fallen, fallen into…something… She kicked that part back into its cradle and returned to contemplating Monroe… that stupid, childish part of her would soon be as dead as she intended to make him…

Charlie liked men just as much as they seemed to like her and she tried to tell herself again that it was just her body reacting to the fight and the testosterone raging around the tent, and not to the inescapably male presence of Monroe - but she knew she was lying… There was something about the fact that he was probably the only person for at least a months travel around who knew who she was, knew that she was Charlotte Matheson, and that called to her as well…and she knew she had to be broadcasting her interest like a beacon… 

Men around her at the bar where she was waiting for her drink to come were starting to notice, paying her a lot more attention, and once her (harsh and nasty) whiskey came, she had to squeeze her way past more than a few persistent types – casually digging hard into their soft bellies with her sharp elbows… stepping onto a couple of toes with her worn but still effective steel studded heels… giving them her death ray stare (courtesy of lessons from Miles and Aaron…) and keeping her free hand on her knife…

She was going to have to rethink her strategy, she hadn’t figured on finding Monroe – like this; and to be truthful she didn’t really have a strategy, she had just pictured herself with him dead – somehow - at her feet… She hadn’t thought about how… She had some skills and had been able to take care of herself in most situations but the reality of Monroe now was so – different – to how she’d imagined… Jeff the cute barman had said he’d looked like cold hell warmed over but she thought he’d say something different if he saw him now… Monroe was obviously much stronger, faster and much more experienced at fighting than her… 

She frowned and found somewhere to lean, then pushed her elbow into another soft belly – she had to use her boot too and waste another death stare - the guy really wanted to intrude on her space; took a sip of the awful whiskey and settled in to think…

He was in hiding though, using another name…all she’d have to do would be to point to him, say his name out loud and show them her arm with his brand on it and they’d believe her and he’d be torn apart by a mob who thought he’d sent the bombs… She didn’t want that though, she wanted him for herself, she wanted to make him hurt like he’d hurt her…? To make him pay for all he’d done? Even though she knew deep down inside that things were a bit more complicated than that… 

It had been so much easier to lay all of the blame on him before she found him… it wasn’t quite so easy now, damn it. She knew what her mom had done, and that Miles had done some things too… and her own sense of justice knew that blame was a shared thing… She swallowed the rest of the foul whiskey with a shudder and upended the glass onto a small empty space on one of the tables…

She took a deep breath and pulled herself back to the mission… 

Unless she could get a clear shot at him, difficult in this crowded place, although not impossible, her best chance of getting to Monroe when he was in any way vulnerable was by using the strengths that she had… She knew he liked women, she had heard the stories of Monroe and his appetites…and when he’d looked at her in the tower – and maybe even back in Philadelphia, he’d looked at her, his eyes so blue - she could have sworn there was something there, something electric…that maybe he’d found her attractive; she could use that… Tonight she found the idea strangely compelling, and if she could get up close, she had her knives and other things…

She looked down at herself and frowned, she hadn’t realised just how dirty and, she sniffed… smelly… she’d got, and although she had been able to wash the basic bits at a stream that morning, she’d been too wary to undress enough to take a proper bath… She doubted if Monroe would want to come within six feet of her at the moment…let alone get close enough so that she’d have a chance of getting under his guard… A strange mixture of excitement, anticipation, fear and defiance roiled in her stomach and she felt her clit pulsing and moisture pooling between her legs again just at the thought of him… She tensed the muscles there and squeezed her thighs together to try to relieve herself a little… 

Screwing Sebastian Monroe - if it got that far - would be something she couldn’t take back, and what would her family think? But then, did that really matter now? Especially if Monroe was dead… as she intended him to be soon… Miles only seemed to care about her mom, her grandpa ditto, her mom was off in her own world and poor Aaron blamed himself for everything going wrong… And Danny, Danny was dead…Nora was dead, Maggie was dead…

She was more alone at this time and in this place than she had ever been before in her life…and it suddenly hit her that if she died here and now, none of her family would know, no one would care, no one would even know who she was…except, maybe, him… She stared into space… not blinking for a long moment; maybe they should just die together and finish it all…

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned fast around on her heel, instinctively crouching in a defensive stance, her hand on her throwing knife… 

The guy who had done the tapping quickly backed off and put both hands in the air in surrender, alarmed surprise on his face… ‘Hey, babe, chill…it’s me…’ 

Charlie relaxed just a little, although her hand stayed on her knife… it was the bookie guy, the one she’d paid to get her some time alone with Monroe, shit, she’d almost forgotten him… 

He smiled… a cheesy, sleazy smile…’You’re in luck, sweetheart… Jimmy said to tell you that he’d be very happy to meet you…’ 

Charlie smiled, somehow producing a confident, broad smile out of her kit bag, her dimple peeking out… although the smile didn’t show in her eyes…’That’s great…’ she said, maybe a little too brightly ‘so what’s your name…?’ 

He shrugged… ‘Names don’t matter, people just call me the bookie...’ he smirked… ’Anyway, Jimmy said to tell you he’s got some time now if you want to meet up…’ 

She stepped a little closer to him, the smile fading; her eyes narrow and intent… ‘Where…?”

“He said he’d wait outside the tent, sweetheart, round the back… Go to the right when you get out the door and keep going around…’ the bookie’s grin faded a little at the look on her face…’But he said you’d have to hurry… he got people to see… things to do…’ he shrugged and winked… ‘You know – he’s a busy man…’ 

She stepped away then paused… ‘How do I know you’re telling me the truth?’ 

He shrugged again… ‘You gave me enough diamonds to pay for Jimmy’s time and a cut for me…but, suit yourself…’ he looked pointedly at her knife, prominent in its hip holster, her crossbow slung across her shoulders and the (new) throwing stars hanging from a couple of rings on her belt ‘You look like you can take care of your own self… but it’s up to you, sweetheart, I’m just giving you the message… you do what you like with it…’ 

She stared at him for a moment…then nodded… ‘Ok, well thanks for the message…’ she turned and headed for the door… 

Outside, it was suddenly a little quieter, cooler, and darker except for the pools of light cast by the oil lamps and braziers… There were fewer people around outside the tent now too… most were inside at the bar or gone to other venues… or even sleeping, if anyone ever really slept around here… 

Charlie pulled her knife out ready; slung her crossbow and backpack off her shoulders, carrying them in her other hand and turned to the right, walking slowly and quietly on the trampled dirt pathway around the fight tent into a sort of cleared area – obviously used to hang washing and sit away from the crowds… The patchy grass was softer underfoot, especially as she got further around the big tent. Then the path led into an alley way between the fight tent and another… and she tensed, checking around her for movement… but there was no one around, no one that she could see anyway… 

The sounds from inside the fight tent faded a little as she walked on, leaving a distant hum of voices and the sound of someone playing a guitar and singing off in the distance - something about a see-saw? The night breeze felt good, cooling her skin after the close, humid, coppery, sweat and alcohol atmosphere of the tent…and everything looking drained of colour but quite clear in the bright moonlight… Where was Monroe…? 

Suddenly a hard arm snaked around her waist from behind, out of the dark, and a strong, hard hand gripped the wrist of her knife hand… 

She instinctively threw her head back and up towards his chin (she knew it was him… it had to be him…), dropping her bow and bag on the ground and thrusting the elbow of that arm hard back towards his stomach, kicking back at his shins with her boot heel … But faster than she would have believed possible she was on the ground, immobilised by a hard, broad, impossibly strong body, silhouetted dark against a sky full of stars… his long legs scissoring and trapping hers between his, both of her arms (her knife gone) held easily above her head by one of his hands, his other hand tensed on the ground near her shoulder supporting most of his weight… her chest and lower body partly covered with his… 

She literally couldn’t move…and she panicked… her head frantically shaking from side to side, body bucking under his weight… legs and body trying to throw his away from her… Then she opened her mouth to scream, taking in a deep breath… 

Sebastian Monroe groaned and his voice hissed out above her… ‘Charlotte, stop… I’m not going to hurt you…’ but the scream had already started and without warning his mouth was on hers…his lips sealing the scream in, taking it into himself… 

Charlie stiffened in shock, her eyes wide and fixed on the shadow of his face, looming so close… 

Bass pulled back a little; just enough so that he could look into those eyes…’Charlotte…’ 

Her night vision had improved enough that she could see his face above hers now, his eyes blazingly intent on her - somehow catching and concentrating the ambient light… 

‘Listen…’ he bent down closer, those eyes like twin pools that she was falling into or that were falling onto her… ‘I am not going to hurt you…’ 

She couldn’t think with him so close, his body hot and heavy on her… She hadn’t realised what it would feel like to have Monroe right there, and he overwhelmed her… it was too much, her heart was thudding and she didn’t know whether she wanted him to get off her or kiss her again and… She stared up at him, frozen in place, any plans forgotten except one… And suddenly she was so fucking angry…with him, with everything… ‘But I am going to hurt you Monroe…’ she spat out… so furious…’I so want to hurt you…’ 

He grinned down at her, his eyes glinting with a touch of admiration and more than a hint of something very primal… ’Sort of figured that one out for myself…’ he lifted an eyebrow… stretching her arms out just a little bit more so that her breasts strained against the thin and tattered material of her tank top. His eyes traced a burning line downwards and he tightened his legs on either side of hers…’So here I am Charlotte’ he moved his weight a little to the side, and brought his free hand up to the side of her face, running his finger gently down its contours, down over her neck and collar bone, then tracing the outside curve of her breast… his finger lazily stroking her there… 

Her body reacted to the gentle touch, her traitorous nipples rising up into little points clearly visible through the thin material of her bra and tank…

’So give it your best shot…’ a little smile curved his mouth and his voice came out low and a little hoarse. 

She narrowed her eyes and glared up at him, as his eyes came back up to meet hers and she struggled again, trying to get a knee free so she could do something, anything… then she slumped back, not able to move, not gaining anything… ’You smug bastard…’ she said tightly…

He shrugged ‘Ouch…?’ he said raising an eyebrow…’Come on Charlotte, you’re not even trying…’ 

If looks could kill she’d have done it then… but he just chuckled and stroked his fingers down to the little strip of skin between the bottom of her tank and the top of her jeans, almost luminous in the night… then traced along it, the skin of his fingers rough, sending little sparks of sensation downwards… ‘Hmm…’ he mused… ‘You really are a tempting little thing, Charlie…’ 

She glared harder and tightened her stomach muscles, pulling away from him… ‘Bastard…’ 

He studied her face in the moonlight; she thought he actually looked curious…‘How were you going to do it anyway…?’ 

‘Do what?’ she shot back… 

‘Well, I was sort of expecting you to try to kill me… so I grabbed you first…’ he actually sounded a little puzzled… 

Charlie turned her head away from him and sighed heavily… ‘I…you caught me by surprise; I was going to use my knife… ‘ A new thought occurred to her… ‘And how did you know it was me anyway? ’ 

He seemed to consider all of that seriously… ‘I spotted you as soon as you walked into Gould’s tent Charlie, you know you really don’t fade into the background very well…’ he smirked at her discomfort at hearing that…. Then his face got serious…. ‘But this was a really stupid move… You’re in unfamiliar territory; you didn’t know where I was or what weapons I had, and you knew I was waiting for you…. Didn’t Miles teach you anything? What were you thinking?’ 

Charlie felt herself redden and she turned her face away as far as she could although thankfully he wouldn’t be able to see… ’Why do you care Monroe…?’ she muttered… but he was right, she had been stupid… 

He frowned down at her… ‘Maybe I’m not quite the monster you think I am….’ The glare returned…and he shrugged… ’Ok… we’ll take that one under advisement… Where is Miles anyway…?’ 

Charlie let out a breath… ’He’s not here…’ 

Monroe chewed his lip... he really didn’t want to ask but… ‘Is he ok…? I mean… he’s alive isn’t he?’ 

Charlie looked into his eyes… He actually looked – sort of worried? ’Yes… and yes… at least he was when I saw him a few months ago…’ 

Monroe’s head shot up… ‘A few months?‘ His voice got louder… ’a few months? If he’s alive then what the fuck is he doing letting you wander around on your own – and in New Vegas of all fucking places?’ 

She exploded herself then… ‘He didn’t let me do anything, Monroe! I’m not a child… I can look after myself…’ 

He rolled his eyes…’Sure you can…most of the time…’ He tightened his grip on her hands and leaned forward again, his face – set in hard lines - getting closer to her own again, his eyes intense and… scary… ‘Charlotte… most of the time isn’t good enough around here…’ 

She stared up at him, couldn’t look away… her heart pounding faster as he got closer and closer… 

’I could do anything I wanted to you right now… and you couldn’t stop me…’ he whispered against her lips…’I could do anything Charlie…anything at all…’ he kissed her gently then lifted his head back, licking his lips to taste her traces… ‘But you’re lucky tonight. I’m no rapist and I try really hard not to kill people these days - unless I have to… But this a very, very bad place, and there are people around here who even give me nightmares…’ 

She gazed up at him… she didn’t know what to think… This wasn’t how he was supposed to be…

Charlie relaxed as much as she could in the cage of his arms and legs and looked up at him… She could see the muscles of his chest and abs through the tunnel that his shirt made as it hung down over her… They were pretty impressive muscles and she remembered thinking how amazing he looked without his shirt and the view was even nicer close up than it had been from a distance… He smelled of strong male sweat and a little of blood. She somehow even seemed to be getting used to the fact that it really was General Sebastian Monroe, her nightmare boogieman and secret obsession actually here and holding her almost like a lover… almost… although weirdly he was treating her more like a silly kid - and she was so over that…

He shifted his weight a little…’What’s going on in that devious mind of yours, Charlotte…?’ 

She gazed up at him, letting what she felt show in her eyes… she ran her tongue over her lips and his eyes shifted to follow the tongue… 

He had shifted enough that she was able to move one of her knees, she rubbed it gently up over his thigh to the bulge between his legs, feeling it harden and seeing it grow as she stroked… 

He took a sharp breath in, and she smiled, her lips sly… ‘I liked watching you Monroe, in there? You were so different from Philadelphia…’ she took a deep breath and stretched out, arching her back and lifting her breasts towards him…

He just looked at her… tension making his face into a mask, and his hand tightened on her wrists…

She lifted her hips, just a little, spreading her legs…’I knew you’d win, the other guy was crap… but you made it look beautiful… the fighting…you just rolled him…’ 

He swallowed, shaking his head… ‘Charlie…don’t… you were just turned on by the action…’ he moved away from her a little so it was harder for her to reach him… ’Everyone gets a bit that way… why do you think there’s fighting and whores in the same place? Gould makes most of his money on fight nights…’ 

She stretched out, moving her body against him where she could, her legs against his…the side of her breast brushing his underarm…’Did you get turned on too, Monroe...?’ she licked her lips again… 

His gaze dropped to her mouth…

She smiled…’I saw you with that blonde woman, she’s beautiful… Were you going to fuck her tonight, do you want to fuck me…?’ 

His eyes narrowed suddenly… ‘Why are you doing this Charlie…?’ his voice was harsh…’I thought you wanted to kill me, not fuck me….’ 

Charlie stared up at him, her eyes wide and wild, something lost in them…‘What if I wanted to do both, Monroe…? You kissed me, remember? And what the fuck does it matter anyway? No one’ll care… Everybody dies… or leaves…’ she felt her eyes fill and hated that he could see it; but she couldn’t stop, couldn’t stop talking… ‘Miles only thinks about Mom now…and I thought you wanted me…’ 

She stopped moving, going limp underneath him…and her voice became hard and brittle although he could hear the anguish underneath... ‘Now, if you don’t want to fuck me, let me up so I can go find someone who does…’

Monroe sighed heavily…’I understand about pain, and being alone, Charlie, believe me. Why do you think I fight…?’ 

She turned her head away from his gaze... not wanting him to see the tears that welled up when he said that… 

He stroked the hair back from her face and she twisted away…’Don’t be so…nice…’ she looked up at him, eyes wet and stormy ‘I don’t want you to be nice… I want you to be…Monroe… I need to get rid of all this…this…shit inside me…’ she bit on her bottom lip…’I know, I look awful, and I haven’t had a proper bath in days….’ Fuck she was begging… she turned away…

He chuckled wryly… ‘Charlotte Matheson… you’re gorgeous and you know it… and you could have any man you wanted, bath or no bath...including me…’ 

She looked up at him… eyes wide, startled… 

‘But I don’t think you’ll want any of the men you’ll find around here, and I shouldn’t want you for so many reasons…’ He sighed again, his eyes distant… ‘So what am I going to do with you…?’ 

He tensed suddenly… and his hand went over Charlie’s mouth in a warning to be quiet… 

Surprising herself she heeded the warning, staying still and waiting as the heavy boots of several men went past the gap between the tents, silhouetted against the light of the lamps outside Gould’s tent… 

He gave it a few minutes after they had passed and let her go… Then his voice came to her in a whisper… ‘Soldiers, Charlie, they call themselves Patriots, pretending to be US Government troops…’ He frowned down at her, eyes shadowed, serious … ’There’s been a lot of them around lately, spouting all kinds of crazy stuff ‘ he shrugged…’and they really don’t like me for some reason…’ 

Charlie huffed… ‘Can’t imagine why that is…’ 

He frowned down at her ‘You think I was bad, Charlotte? Some of the things I’ve heard about these guys make me look like a teddy bear even at my worst…’ he pointed his chin towards the back of the fight tent… ‘My trailer’s back there… Gould’s kind enough to provide crash pads for fighters who make money for him …we can go and finish this inside…’ 

She glared up at him ‘What if I tell you to go to hell, Monroe…’ 

He glared right back…’what makes you think you’ve got a choice…’

……………………………………


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:  
> Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this – and if you are being kind enough to read it for the second time, I hope you enjoy the little extra bits and changes (and the better editing).This story seemed to want more from me so I went back… ☺
> 
> I don’t own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters.

Ride, ride my see-saw… 

Bass Monroe kept an iron grip on her arm and stayed unnervingly close to her as they untangled their legs and got up from the ground… but Charlie didn’t complain, she was feeling just a little bit dazed by the physical and emotional see saw of the night… 

Her body had been in a state of unresolved arousal for what felt like fucking hours and Monroe…Monroe had made things a whole hell of a lot worse by getting up close and personal with his stupid muscles and his long legs and those fucking blue eyes – and the beard…and then not letting her kill him or fuck him (or fuck him and then kill him, which, ok, sounded better…) so she could get him the hell out of her system. And what was it with him worrying so much about her anyway? And the crap about him being angry with Miles because he wasn’t with poor little her… 

Charlie took a deep breath and glared up at him… Then everything went a little hazy, because she didn’t have a clue what would happen next… She didn’t have a plan for something like this, and she should have a plan, Monroe had been right about that…

Bass bent over to scoop up her knife, bag and bow, sliding the knife through his belt and slinging the rest over his shoulder… He checked her out on the way up, and his eyes narrowed… He had felt the glare earlier but now her eyes were unfocused and a little glazed; he sighed…if she was anything like her uncle – and she was a hell of lot like him, she’d probably been running on empty for days while she was looking for him – and Gould’s whiskey was definitely not part of any food group… Combine that with travelling alone for weeks – months… through country like this and it was no surprise that she looked like she was going to fall over… he grinned… although it never paid to underestimate a Matheson, and she had made it to New Vegas in one piece… 

‘Have you eaten anything tonight, Charlotte…?’ 

She turned her head towards him, swaying a little on her feet…’what…?’ 

He shook her arm a little… ‘Have you had anything to eat…?’ 

She shook her head… ‘There’s some jerky in my pack…’ and she winced, her voice sounded a bit feeble even to her… 

He held the bag out to her, ‘here, you can eat on the way…’ 

Charlie nodded, strangely grateful… She had been so focused on getting here that she knew she hadn’t been eating properly - and couldn’t remember eating at all today… She reached into the front pocket of her bag with her free hand; his eyes following her every move… A wry grin twitched at her lips…’It’s ok Monroe… the Jerky’s pretty chewy but I don’t think you need to worry too much about death by dried venison…’ 

That little comment reassured him that he’d been right about her resilience; it did mean he’d have to watch her very closely though… ‘I’m pretty sure you could work something out, Charlie…’ 

She decided to ignore him and started to chew the tough but tasty morsels, feeling energy return almost immediately…he was right, she’d work something out… she always did…

Bass kept a firm but casual grip on her arm and led her to a clearing behind the fight tent, heading towards one of the trailers parked in a tight semi circle around a fire pit. The small trailer was battered but still in one piece and adapted so it could be horse drawn. He walked them up to the door and checked under the latch – the strip of wire was still where he’d left it so he was pretty sure he hadn’t had any visitors; he shrugged, not that there was much to take anyway… He unlatched the door, lit the oil lamp that he’d left at the bottom of the steps and held a hand out for her to go up first… 

She climbed up the couple of rickety steps, her long hair hanging heavy and her curvy ass swaying in front of his face, the chains hanging from her belt catching the light from the moon and his lamp and glinting, sparkling… He watched that lovely ass moving, couldn’t help it, one of the most gorgeous women to ever stir his dick and she just happened to be Miles’ niece – and hate his guts… Someone upstairs must really, really hate him… 

He followed her in, locking the door behind them, staying close, wary of any moves she might make… but to his surprise, she walked the couple of steps to the middle of the floor and just stood there, looking around, her eyes curious… 

Bass found himself at a crossroads, not quite sure which way to go… Things here in New Vegas were starting to get a bit too hot for his comfort with more Patriots and bounty hunters turning up each day. Sooner or later one of them was going to recognise him and he’d been planning to leave soon anyway – if she’d been even a few days later she’d probably have missed him… She was here now though, and he had to decide what to do with her… 

He stowed her pack, bow and knife on a high ledge next to the door, keeping his eyes on her but letting her take her time… He poured them some water, handing her a glass and draining his…

Charlie was clearly in a pretty bad place emotionally and he really didn’t like to think about what could have happened to her if she’d kept going the way she was… It was ironic how meeting up with him of all people might have just saved her life, and all because she wanted to take his… But, she was Miles’ niece, and, by his definition, family… 

He sighed, there was really no decision to make; he’d have to get her back to them somehow…willing or not…although dragging an unwilling Charlotte Matheson maybe halfway across the map to wherever Miles was would definitely not be his first choice… fuck, she still had to tell him where...

Charlie drank the water, the cool liquid feeling clean and wholesome after Gould’s whiskey, and looked round the trailer while Monroe stowed her stuff, lit a second lamp and pulled the curtains shut over the small windows behind the table… 

She was a bit surprised at how clean and tidy the small space was, there was no mess and it even smelled good, traces of coffee and some sort of woodsy soap teasing her nose… There was a small table (which was where Monroe put the first lamp) and chairs placed opposite the door – and next to that there was a little sink with a water pump over a double front cupboard that extended round into a robe and more storage… Some shelves above the sink held a couple more glasses, a couple of mismatched bowls, mugs and plates and a covered jug of drinking water as well as a bottle of what she thought might be the awful, but still effective, whiskey… There was a double bed at the far end of the space – looking surprisingly clean – and comfortable too – it even had pillows…

Charlie shrugged… ‘It’s ok…’ she looked at him, her eyes steady, cool blue…’I like it better than your last place…’

He shrugged and leaned back against the cupboard…‘It might surprise you to hear it but so do I, Charlotte…’ He sighed and looked around and in the lamplight his face was startlingly good looking and almost - human? ’Gould does pretty well for himself and he likes to keep his fighters happy’ Then he folded his arms across his chest and smirked…‘The girls like it too…’ 

She raised an eyebrow and looked dubiously over at the bed… 

He laughed…’don’t worry… clean sheets every day are part of the deal…’ He indicated the chairs… ‘Have a seat, Charlotte…’ 

Charlie looked up at him… It felt strangely good to be with someone who knew who she was, who knew her family, even if that someone was Monroe… and even more strangely, and despite everything that had happened in the past, she felt safe with him… Which was a shame, for him anyway, because she’d just thought of a Plan b, and now was a perfect time to try it… 

‘I don’t want to sit down…’ she was very calm as she walked towards him… ‘I want…you…’ she reached him and put a hand up to his chest; her fingers lightly stroking the heavy, taut muscles through the thin material of his shirt…

Bass stared down at her; her blue eyes had a teasing glint as she slanted them up at him, her lips were full and pink, her tongue just visible and playing between them and her roving fingers were sending little messages rocketing downwards to his dick, which was already on high alert from their little tussle on the ground earlier. In the meantime, his brain was making a valiant effort to convince the rest of him that this was not, could not, be as easy as it seemed… 

Her voice was soft and her eyes were a limpid blue gazing up at him from that gorgeous face…‘Monroe…I want you to make me forget, everything… just for a little while…?’ her fingers moved up over his shoulder and the side of his strong neck to lightly trace the scruff along his jaw…

His breath caught and damn he could feel his dick winning the battle… his brain holding up a limp, white flag in surrender… 

‘Will you do that for me, Sebastian…?’ she moved even closer…

It was only reflex – or maybe because she called him Sebastian or maybe because he suddenly, and with the last of his sensible brain cells, remembered that she was a fucking Matheson and that they always, always bounced back - that made him reach down and grab her other hand, and with it the handle of the knife that was heading towards his lower ribs… 

He grinned, this was more like the Charlotte he was coming to know, and, he had to admit it… like a whole fucking lot, and twisting the knife out of her grip with one hand he bent her arm round behind her back with the other, holding her tightly in place against him… ‘Damn… I knew I should have frisked you while I had you down on the ground…’ 

She smiled back at him – razor edged, her eyes glinting… ‘Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying’ She shrugged, her heart pounding like she’d run a race... Shit, he was fast, and so strong, but he still hadn’t hurt her… She laughed, a little breathless… a reckless excitement pooling in her belly…

He pulled her a little closer, her breasts mashing up against his chest, then reached up and behind him, putting the knife way up on the cupboard top without taking his eyes – or his other hand, off her; he’d secure it properly later… Then he choked off a laugh; nearly being skewered hadn’t worried his dick at all… It was very, very happy with her so close… ’I thought you said you wanted to fuck me then kill me…or have you changed your mind…?’ 

She slapped his cheek lightly with her free hand, her eyes gleaming and her lips curved in a wicked, smirking grin, she hadn’t felt this alive in, well… a long time…’I was just testing your reflexes Monroe…’ she leaned back against the arm holding her…’but maybe I should show you that I’m not hiding anything else…?’ 

He let go of her knife arm, sliding his hand down across her ass, the tips of his fingers catching on the rings of her belt… his eyes darkening to a burning blue… He tipped his head a little to the side, an eyebrow lifting, lips curved in a lazy smile…’so show me what you got, Charlotte…’

She stepped back…her gaze steady on his…a little smile playing around her mouth… Then reached down and grasped the bottom of her tank top, yanking it up and over her head, dropping it on the floor behind her… 

He watched her, not moving, although his dick was getting so fucking hard he had to grip the edges of the cupboard behind him to stop himself from reaching down to give it a hand… 

Then she twisted her hands behind her back and unhooked her bra, pushing the straps down over her shoulders and dropping it on the floor too, standing in front of him, her high rounded breasts with their rosy tips moving up and down with her breath… 

Bass felt his whole damned body tighten up… This was such a huge fucking monumentally bad idea but damn it if she had chosen him to be her stress relief he was fast running out of objections… In fact his cock and what was left of his brain were in total agreement that she was fucking exactly what they needed too… and as she reached down and circled her breasts with her own hands, pinching and playing the nipples between her thumb and forefingers, his balls joined in the applause… and his pants were suddenly way, way too tight…

He took a deep breath…If he did this, if he let her have her way with him (and wasn’t that a turn around Bass Monroe…) at least he’d know she was ok… Because if there was one thing he was fucking absolutely sure of given who he was playing with, it was that if he didn’t give her what she wanted then she would just find herself some other guy to scratch her itch and maybe end up hurt or worse - and he simply couldn’t allow that to happen… 

Besides, the thought of someone else touching her now made him want to kill something – preferably that someone else… 

He smiled and let a breath out through his teeth… ok then…and for a moment there he could actually hear Miles growling something at him about cutting his balls off… (and he thought sorry, brother) but he really wasn’t sorry at all… she was worth his balls – together with the rest of him… 

He looked her up and down; she was staring at him expectantly, waiting, impatient… ’Turn round Charlotte…’ 

She lifted her hands in the air and did a 360, the long, heavy, dirty blond waves of her hair rippling over her back and around the smooth skin of her waist and taut belly, strands of it catching on her nipples and that damned chain belt making little jingling noises as she turned… ’Satisfied…?’ 

He chuckled – a deep, dark sound that sent ripples down her belly…’Not even close…’ He came forward to meet her, brushing her hair back over her shoulders with both hands, his thumbs grazing her nipples and circling under her breasts…making them bounce just a little… 

She swayed a little towards him, chewing her bottom lip, her eyes getting hazy… ‘Monroe…’

His dick twitched, impatient… he told it to sit… ’Well you aren’t hiding anything there…’ Her breath hitched and he ran his hands down up and around the back of her neck, spreading his fingers through her hair and damn he could smell how turned on she was… ‘Nothing there either…’ he chuckled and placed his hands over her shoulders, fingers lightly testing, stroking, finding her muscles wound up tight as wires… He paused, his thumbs tracing little circles at the base of her neck… making her tremble… Shit, she had enough stoked up tension there to light a fire, and that he could understand – she’d tracked him for what sounded like months, and now she had him in her sights it was fight or fuck; he was just glad she seemed to have chosen fuck…

She shivered under his hands and licked her lips, pupils blown now… 

He ran a finger down her spine, making her gasp… down to the waistband of her jeans and that tantalising belt and grinned sharply…’Throwing stars, Charlotte…?’ 

She shrugged ‘I thought they were pretty…’ 

He slid his hand around the soft skin of her waist, just above the top of the low slung jeans and fingered the stars approvingly and very carefully… ‘Very nice… sharp too… ‘ He trailed his fingers back up to the skin of her belly above her jeans, playing a little with her belly button, her muscles jumping under his hands… ‘The bat belt will have to come off…’ 

She nodded…’Ok…’ her voice was getting a little hoarse… 

He studied the belt, playing the game…’this is nice work, where did you get it?’ 

‘In Chicago…a guy from… Minneapolis I think, somewhere like that…traded me some pelts for it…’ she started to reach for the buckle but he held a hand up…

’Keep your hands where I can see them, Charlotte, I’ll do it…’ 

She put her hands back up… ‘Ok, but be careful, Monroe, I love that belt…’ 

He reached a couple of his long fingers down inside the waist band of her jeans to give him leverage and felt the first few temptingly damp tendrils of curly hair springy against the tips of his fingers… He had to take a deep, deep breath to keep from tearing her jeans right off her then and there and hang the fucking belt… and he just couldn’t resist pushing a finger down between the soft curls, the wet, smooth skin and fleshy folds parting like warm heaven itself as his finger slid over the sensitive nub of her clit… 

She folded forward over his hand with a gasp and a long moan, her thighs clenching over his hand, her hands reaching blindly for his shoulders to keep from falling… 

He let his finger slide, so, so easily, into her tight, tight pussy, finger fucking her gently, his whole body buzzing with the urge to throw her down on the bed and, just … He held himself in check with an effort that left him rigid, in more ways than one… Then he pulled his fingers out, slowly, leaving her panting, her lips open, tongue flicking over them; her cheeks flushed and eyes blue-black with pupils blown… God she looked amazing, and he was loving this game… Fuck Russian roulette – he had Charlotte Matheson…

’Shit…’she said, breathless, she had come just with his fingers on her… 

He unclipped the buckle and carefully took the belt off…’The throwing stars don’t match the belt…’ 

She met his gaze, still panting, her eyes bright and dancing in the light of the lamps…’they’re new… I bought them especially for you, Monroe…’ 

He laughed, genuinely amused… ‘I’m flattered…’ He put the belt behind him on the table and reached for her hands again, directing both of them behind her back and holding them there with one hand… looking down at her for a long moment, her eyes like hot blue furnaces…

Then he bent down towards her lips and parted them with his own, he could still taste the whiskey on her mouth… He ran his tongue inside, exploring; meeting hers and felt her kiss him back. She tasted like danger and vibrant passion, her lips warm and full and sweet under his, and he felt himself falling into Charlotte Matheson like a moth into a torch… but he kept her hands held firmly behind her back, just in case…

When they finally came up for air… her eyes were hazy, lips swollen and red in the lamplight… 

Bass felt his mouth tingling too…‘You do realise, Charlotte…’ he said, laughter in his voice….’that even if you don’t manage to kill me, Miles will for doing this…? 

She laughed too, but it came out more like a sob…’He’s too far away to care, Monroe… and besides, do you really think any of us are going to last that long…?’ 

He stared down at her, forgetting for a moment the feel of her warm, smooth skin under his hands as a cold shiver ran through his veins – was she really that lost…? 

Then she moved closer to him, pressing her body against his, those high breasts with the pink, pebbled nipples cushioning against his chest, her hair a dark golden mass falling around her shoulders… and all other thoughts left him except her…

He undid the buttons of her jeans with his free hand but left them on, then stroked his hand over her hip and round to her back, slipping it down under her jeans waistband and over the cheeks of her ass… then he let her hands go and pushed his other hand down too, the smooth springy flesh of her ass cheeks under his fingers…

Charlie felt his fingers, rough against her skin and it felt so damn good that she couldn’t stop her hips flexing towards him… 

He spread his fingers out and lifted, pulling her towards him, his cock like a hard column between them, he let her feel it, feel how hard he was for her, how much he wanted her… 

She felt as though the world was tilting on its axis… She was doing this, this forbidden thing… and she laughed a little crazily up at him… ‘Did you ever think tonight would end up like this, Monroe, that we’d be doing this?’ 

He grinned back, intent on the feel of her flesh in his hands….‘Not exactly’ he lifted an eyebrow…’but I must admit to having a few thoughts about you while I was watching you stalking me around that tent…’ 

He pulled his hands out from the back of her jeans and slid them around the smooth flesh of her waist to the front… she sucked in her stomach and he slipped a hand down the front of her, one of his big fingers sliding down the curly hair and between the lips of her sex over her clit again, so easily, she was so wet…’ his other fingers forced her legs apart just by being there… and his other hand went back around her waist, holding her right there…

He looked down at her, his eyes like jewels, the lamplight catching in them like little blue and gold flames….

’Your eyes are so blue, Monroe...’ she murmured, 

He chuckled ‘So I’ve been told…’ 

His fingers were playing wonderful music over her clit and between her legs, plunging in and out of her, rough and smooth at the same time and she closed her eyes, letting herself just fall forward against his chest for a moment because it felt so, fucking, good… She felt as though her whole body was dissolving into liquid as his so clever fingers slid around and in her…and she just let herself go completely for the first time in such a long, long time… and then she came and came and came and she felt her knees just go but she didn’t fall because he held her up… 

He slowly pulled his hand out, and she moaned out her loss, her arms holding on…’Monroe…’ 

He ran his hands up and over her back, her shoulders, brushing her hair back, caressing her neck, then ran them back down….’ Its ok, Charlie… It’s only for a minute… He undid the remaining buttons of her jeans and knelt to pull them down over her full hips and strong, slim legs to her ankles… 

Then he swallowed, he’d been holding back, still not sure that this wasn’t going to go very badly, hell it still might… but his self-control was getting a real beating tonight; in fact it most of it was in a little heap on the floor under her feet along with her jeans… ‘Charlotte… you look like every straight man’s dream…’ He took a deep breath and looked up at her… 

She gazed down at him, her eyes glazed, her hair tousled and tangled round her shoulders… her smooth skin flushed and glistening and the dark gold triangle of curls between her legs drawing his gaze like a magnet…

She rested one hand on his shoulder and lifted a foot, he pulled first her boot and then the fabric away, then she did the same with the other and she stood there, naked and beautiful and he felt any defences he had left drift away like mist… 

Charlie reached for the buttons of his shirt… ‘Your turn…’ she pulled at the shirt…

He stood up, letting her in, letting go… He’d been half expecting her to back out, to change her mind about fucking him, fucking Sebastian Monroe, the enemy, but this didn’t feel like she was backing out…

She undid the buttons and pushed the shirt back over his hard shoulders pulling it down his arms and off, tossing it over one of the chairs. Then she gave him a lazy, cat with the cream smile, her hands stroking over the skin of his chest, thumbs brushing his nipples and making them pucker and him gasp… running her hands down the hard muscles of his arms, one hand pausing over the mass of scars where his tattoo used to be… 

She lifted her eyes to his, her skin crawling at the thought of the cost in pain of those scars – but she didn’t need to ask him why… she knew; he’d tried burning away the pain of betrayal, she knew about that, Miles had told her about the tattoo… Well, they all had their scars… She stepped back a little and dropped her hands down to the buckle of his belt… then lower, spreading her fingers over the long hard bulge imprisoned below it… 

He sucked in a breath… 

She dropped down to her knees and undid the buckle, then the buttons underneath, peeling back the fabric and pulling it in one movement all the way down his long, strong legs and she laughed… ‘You like going commando too, Monroe…?’ 

His voice came down to her, hoarse and low…‘It does save time…’ his cock sprang free, long and proud and so glad to feel the air and her fingers circling him, stroking up and down, her other hand running lightly up the inside of his thigh to cup his balls, the tips of her fingers gently running over the sensitive skin behind them… His breath caught… 

Then Charlie let go of him and stood gracefully, in one lithe movement… Running both hands up over the smooth skin and hard contours of his abdomen and chest torso to hold onto his shoulders, then she leaned against him; her body flush with his, the warmth of her skin setting him on fire… 

He stroked his hands down her back…then reached further down to the springy flesh of her ass, pulling her even closer…. 

She let out a little gasp and a murmur of impatience, lifting a leg and twisting it round his, rubbing her swollen sex against him, her breasts pressed against his chest like twin electrodes…sending him reeling… 

Bass moved his arms around her back and thighs and swung her around, carrying her the few steps to the bed and laying her down onto it, pulling her forward so that her knees hung over the edge and her hair fanned behind her like a golden shawl, her body lying spread out before him like some feast… 

He dropped to his knees in front of her and lifted her legs up over his shoulders, then looked at her face… 

Charlie was watching him avidly, her eyes full of an incredible mix of hunger, triumph, anticipation and amazement… He got lost in her eyes for a moment, but he needed to make sure… ‘Charlotte…?’ 

She focused, her voice clear and steady… ‘The answer’s yes, Monroe, so don’t you dare stop now…’

He took his cock in his hand and guided the broad, heavy head of his cock through the soft damp folds of flesh, watching her, watching how her breasts moved up and down with her rapid breaths, how her tongue snaked over her lips… how her eyes became softer and little gasps came from her mouth… 

He got himself positioned and held himself there for a moment, just starting to stretch her out… running his hands up over her thighs and back down to stroke over her pussy, his thumbs framing her clit, finding the little ridge of firm flesh so sensitive that the slightest movement of his made her quiver, the skin of her belly tightening… 

The sight of a woman spread out beneath him was always a wonder, always something that took his breath away – but the sight of Charlotte there filled him with something he couldn’t name, from the moment she walked into Gould’s tent, all fire and brimstone tension, he had wanted her, like this…

He put his hands on either side of her hips, pulling them forward slowly and just as slowly pressing himself inside her… she was tight but so wet that he watched himself slide into her like a dream…

Charlie looked at Sebastian Monroe, there in front of her and she could feel him stretching her out until he was completely buried inside her; her thighs and ass cushioned against his chest… her body completely open to him at that moment… She gazed at his face; his eyes were intent on her but half closed in concentration and intense sensation…a little frown coming and going between his brows as he moved in and out of her… his lips slightly open, each, slow, strong, deliberate thrust pushing her back onto the clean, soft sheets…. 

He was so beautiful - like a sharp bladed knife, all hard angles and sharp edges and sheer masculine power, but he was being so gentle with her… 

Then suddenly he was all the way in and she felt his size, his thickness making her feel incredibly, lusciously full… He pulled out, almost all the way, then pushed back in again slowly, so slowly… gradually picking up the pace until they were caught up together in a maelstrom of movement and sensation that somehow left her clear and weightless, the world falling apart and reforming into something new, something different… 

She felt somehow removed, her mind floating…. This hadn’t been just a meaningless fuck in the back room of a bar, with some nice young, uncomplicated guy, this was different… and she watched him as he came, his face intent, beautiful… Sebastian Monroe…

Bass gasped and withdrew, spilling himself onto the sheets underneath them, his eyes a shadowed, dark blue in the afterglow and he gazed down at Charlie, lying back on the bed, her body relaxed now, beautiful in abandon… her hair in a glorious riot around her shoulders…. her breasts rising and falling as her breathing gradually slowed back down… 

She looked back at him, her cheeks flushed a golden, tanned pink, her eyes a limpid blue… Then she sat up, graceful; her legs bent under her. She held his eyes, then glanced down at her left hand… 

Bass followed her eyes with his own and saw what she was holding… His breath caught and he stayed absolutely still… It was one of the throwing stars she carried on her belt – one that he’d obviously, and fucking stupidly, missed when he’d disarmed her (never underestimate a Matheson) little drops of blood around the points where they had dug into her palm. 

She looked at her hand, at the drops of blood, and her voice calm and even, even though her breasts were still trembling from before… ‘I could have killed you, Monroe, and you wouldn’t have known a thing…’ She looked up at him again, a little frown between her brows, her eyes solemn ‘but I didn’t… Do you want to know why…?’

Bass let go of her legs and sat back on his heels, getting his breath back… and he’d thought he was doing so well… But then Matheson’s seemed to have a habit of almost killing him when he was – temporarily – incapacitated, or asleep… ‘Because you’re not the monster you think you are Charlie…?’ 

She raised an eyebrow… he shrugged and took another breath… She was still sitting there though – and not throwing the star at him, so he – and she - might just survive this. He was worried about her though, there was a slightly spaced look in her eyes, maybe fucking him, fucking the enemy, had sent her over the edge…‘Or maybe it was because I was busy giving you my all at the time and you didn’t want to stop the show…?’ 

She nodded… ’Maybe…’ a little smile escaped and twitched the corners of her mouth…’you do seem to know what you’re doing…’ 

He quietly moved his hands onto his knees (ready to protect his head if needed…) ‘I take my fucking pretty seriously Charlotte… after all, I have my reputation to consider…’ he moved his feet a bit further underneath him, just getting ready he told himself; responding to the ingrained reflexes of survival… ‘Did it get rid of the…you know…?’ he asked casually… 

She tipped her head and considered… ’Yeah… maybe…’ she narrowed her eyes at him…’But don’t get cocky about it though…it’s too soon to be sure…’ 

He laughed out loud at that…and thought suddenly that she would be ok… and if she had decided to kill him then - well…there were a lot worse ways of dying… 

He decided to take a chance…’so why didn’t you kill me?’ 

She looked straight at him, that beautiful face like a mask… ‘I wanted you to know that I could have done it, that I could still do it, that I wasn’t just a helpless girl…’ then she smiled…

It was a smile that told him that she hadn’t forgiven him – or forgotten who he was and what he’d done, yet… That he still had a long way to go if he wanted that, and he knew suddenly that he did, he wanted it very, very much… 

He decided then, it was time to go – and take her with him…‘I need to leave here Charlie… It’s only a matter of time before someone recognises me… There are new bounty hunters every day, hell, there was a wanted poster put up on the gate – luckily it didn’t look much like me… but sooner or later someone’ll recognise me…’ He shrugged…’I thought maybe it’d be an idea if we joined forces for a while… you know, watch each other’s back…?’ 

She gazed at him…’I don’t know…’ she pulled her legs up, sitting unselfconsciously cross legged on the bed… which was low enough that he had a view of her that would give him something to dream about for a very long time…‘I’ve only just gotten used to you maybe not being the boogieman anymore…’ She was turning the star over and over in her hand… he could see it’s edges twinkling…as sharp edged as this world had made both of them…

He frowned, ’I won’t pretend that I’m something I’m not, Charlie… ‘ His eyes were eerily intense… ‘I have an awful lot of darkness in me, and I think you do too… ‘

Her eyes narrowed at that, her lips parting to say something…

He raced on ’but being out here on your own...? Sooner or later you’ll find yourself in the same position you were today – and it might be someone who really is the boogieman…’ He leaned forward…’Charlie – I’m part of your family whether you want it or not, why don’t we look out for each other…’ and shit, he knew as soon as he said it that it was the wrong fucking thing to say…

Her eyes fired up, hard blue… and she swung up onto her hands and knees – staring him right in the face… ‘You’re delusional, Monroe’ she said coldly… ‘You’re responsible for the deaths of half my family, you aren’t part of my family… You just helped me scratch an itch…’

He bit back an angry reply, defending himself with the truth wouldn’t help at the moment, and he didn’t think she was ready to hear it, fuck she was partly right about him anyway… And he’d been stupid to say that he was part of her family, no matter that that was how he felt – and how it had been… He had been part of her family since before she was born... He felt the world spinning into darkness once again…. ‘Charlotte…’

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door…’Hey Jimmy… Jimmy…?’ Bass tensed… he met Charlie’s icy stare; she was still angry, but was watching him carefully… She could tell from his reaction that something was off about this… 

He got up and went over to the door, putting his mouth to the tiny gap at the edge and keeping one eye on her… he really wasn’t sure what she was going to do next…’What is it Bookie…I’m tired…’ 

‘Jimmy, Gould wants to see you – right away…’ the voice sounded on edge… 

Bass was silent for a minute… ‘Alright… tell him I’ll be a few minutes though… I gotta get dressed…’ 

The voice came again, definitely shaky this time ‘Ok, Jimmy, I’ll tell him…be quick though ok…?’

He waited until he was pretty sure Bookie had gone then turned to Charlie… 

She was standing up now…watching him intently…ready and alert… she looked beautiful and dangerous and he fixed her image in his mind…in case he never had another chance… ‘You’d better get dressed and get your stuff together Charlotte…’ 

She nodded once, walking over towards him and quickly finding and getting into her clothes…‘What’s going on?’ her voice was cold, distant…

His lips twisted in a grim smile… He’d been a fool to think that what had happened between them tonight would change anything, a fool to think that this fucked up world might let him have anything that was good…he shrugged ’Gould would never want to see me this late, he’ll be happily plugging his brawny sidekick – or being plugged, not really sure which way that works…’ he shrugged…’ but Bookie’s voice didn’t sound right, someone’s got to him’ he turned to find his own clothes and weapons, talking quietly as he dressed… ‘I’ll go ahead, draw whoever it is away, they’ll be after me so… I’ll take care of them’ 

She nodded, he was right…it was his problem, although he was hers…and she didn’t like people muscling in when she was hunting…

‘Charlotte…?’ 

She looked up at him….’yeah?’

‘What I said about travelling together… I meant it…two swords really are better than one….’ 

She didn’t say anything, just quietly collected her things and finished getting ready… 

He let out a harsh breath and looked away…’If you decide you want to come with me, give me an hour – if I’m not back by then…’ he shrugged… ‘But don’t go back to Gould’s… get as far away from this place as you can and head back to Miles…’ he buckled his sword belt, shoved a knife into its loop on his thigh and his gun into its holster…’and if you decide you want to go on your own…?’ 

She was fastening that damn throwing star to her belt and hesitated a moment… 

He took a small step towards her… ’wait a few minutes before leaving…ok? Give me time to draw them away…’

She finished fixing the star and looked up at him, her eyes cold ‘I’m not a kid Monroe…stop treating me like one…’ 

He shook his head, ‘you think you’re so clever Charlotte…just because you - almost - stuck a little bit of metal in me…?’ 

Her eyes went stormy, angry… 

Good… She needed to be… He smiled, lips hard... ’You don’t know what’s out there… remember how easily I took you in the dark?’ 

He moved closer, looming over her… suddenly looking a lot like the General from Philadelphia and the Tower… Charlie fought against the urge to back away from him… 

His eyes burned, his lips twisted in a cold smile…’and a little word of advice, Charlotte…? You really need to get a handle on those hormones of yours…some guy who is not as nice as me is really going to fuck you over one day if you don’t…’ 

She stared at him… ‘You bastard…’

He backed off and turned away, tired of her anger, tired of being angry, tired of it all. He belted on his swords…’Charlotte, whatever you think of me… believe me about one thing…’ 

She still just stared at him…her eyes giving nothing away… 

He’d hoped that things could be different, but maybe there was just too much death – and other things - between them…He could still try to do his best for her though, for her sake even more than for Miles. He took a deep breath, ’Things are going to get really bad really soon Charlie, I can feel it, and you need to get to your family and friends… I know that things aren’t all good there, but being on your own sucks…’

His shoulders tensed… ‘And when you get there? Will you tell Miles that I’m sorry?’

She checked the hang of her knife…’Sorry for what…?’ 

‘Sorry that it all went wrong, just….sorry…’ 

She studied the floor then shrugged…’ok, I’ll tell him…when I see him…’

He took a deep breath… ‘Charlotte…?’ he reached out to open the door, ‘You are an amazing woman… believe that…and I’m glad we met tonight, even if you did try to kill me a couple of times…’ 

She choked off a laugh…’I nearly got you, Monroe, you know I did…’

He grinned…’Nearly doesn’t pay squat…’ he turned for the door…’but you reminded me that there are some good things in the world, Charlie, as well as bad, and that I’m not as alone as I thought I was, and I thank you for that…’ and as he opened the door he thought he saw something change in her eyes… 

‘Monroe…?’ her voice was quiet…’I...I’ll think about it…’ 

He bent his head… and smiled a little…’That’s good…I’ll see you, maybe…?’ 

She turned one of the lamps off ‘Maybe…’ 

Then he left, shutting the door behind him.

…………………………………

Charlie stood there for a moment then turned the other lamp off. Going over to the door she listened to make sure that he’d gone, then, shutting her eyes to jumpstart her night vision she opened the door quietly and stepped out… 

The moon was still up and the night full of shadows as she followed Monroe. He was headed back towards Gould’s tent, head and shoulders silhouetted against the sky as he walked quietly along a slight rise between tents and an enclosure with a few goats bleating … She slung her crossbow off her back, taking a bolt from her bag and setting it up as she walked, crouching to keep out of sight… 

She paused for a moment and got him in her sights, just to see what it felt like - but for some reason her trigger finger wouldn’t move… She lowered the bow…

If someone was after Monroe surely they’d have to strike soon, before he got to the front of the tent in sight of other people… And when they did she’d be there to stop them; because he was hers, and she’d be damned if she was going to let anyone else have him… 

She just didn’t know what she wanted to do with him yet… 

He confused her, and she really hated being confused. Monroe was fascinating and infuriating, she hadn’t met anyone else like him and he made her feel things she didn’t want to feel, shit, her whole body was still buzzing from fucking him… She should hate him and part of her still did, but tonight she’d seen a different side to Monroe and she didn’t know how to reconcile that with everything else, yet…

Suddenly she saw a shadowy figure come flying up behind Monroe, hitting him on the head with some sort of weapon, he dropped like a stone… 

Charlie took the shot, the bolt flying towards the other guy - but even as she let fly she knew she’d missed, so she moved quickly towards them, taking cover as she went… 

She saw the guy dragging a clearly unconscious Monroe… and it was then that she saw the second man, older, long beard – talking, complaining, in some language that she didn’t know, who jumped in to help the first guy drag Monroe to a waiting van, two horses shuffling, restless, their harnesses jangling… 

Charlie slumped… Shit, there was no way she’d be able to hit them at this range... so now she’d have to follow them… They tossed him in the back, jumped on and took off, Shit…

It took her a couple of hours but Charlie tracked the wagon, they hadn’t gone that far thankfully and she found them camped in a group of old buildings surrounding an empty pool… First guy was sleeping on his bedroll near the edge of the pool; old guy was sitting at a camp table looking at a picture book in the bright light of a lamp…

She tapped a tree with the butt of her knife, and old guy picked up a pistol and came looking… She waited until he was out of sight of first guy and got him a flying one with a long piece of wood, knocking him out… 

She needed to sort out the other guy next, then get Monroe away, if he was standing of course, if he was still out to it things might get a bit complicated… 

 

She took the pistol and headed to the pool… keeping an eye on first guy on the bedroll while she peeked over the edge… They had tied Monroe at the deep end, standing up, at the bottom of an old ladder that dropped down the side… 

He didn’t look good, she could see blood on the side of his face and he was slumped against the lowest rung of the ladder – which was at his head level. He was still upright though…and she had to give him credit, he was a survivor… 

She stared at him, it would be so easy…she could just shoot him now and that would be it – he’d be gone, out of everyone’s lives… although then she’d have to deal with first guy – and he’d be really pissed with her for ruining their bounty… 

She’d also never find out what it was about Monroe that had made her interested in living again… 

She stared down at him for just a moment too long and didn’t see first guy reaching for his shotgun - but it hurt like all hell it when he shot her, pellets of something scattering like balls of fire into her right shoulder, the pain of that tipping her into the spongy dark of unconsciousness… 

And that meant that she wasn’t awake to notice the pain of landing on the tiles at the bottom of the pool…or Monroe’s startled, and alarmed look as she fell… 

………………………………..

Bass watched as they dragged her over and tied her up nearby, hanging her from the edge of the pool with a rope around her waist… He checked her out as much as he could; the injury on her shoulder didn’t look that bad – there was very little blood so he suspected they’d used salt, painful and effective but not serious, and he thought that she had probably been unconscious and limp when she hit the bottom of the pool so apart from some bruises she should be ok from that too… lucky for her… he felt like crap that had been crapped on…and at least she’d get some sleep…

He honestly didn’t know if she had been there to kill him or rescue him, but he thought it was likely that she just didn’t want any one else having a crack at him and ruining her hunt… He grinned, wincing as his lip cracked open again, because, in just another one of life’s little ironies, now he had to rescue her as well as get away himself… 

But then at least she’d owe him one... 

He kept working on chipping away at the grout of the loose tile behind his back… it was lucky that they seemed to want to keep him alive too, for some reason…

………………………………….

It was just after dawn when she woke up and looked around, disoriented… 

He blinked at her, all the energy he could spare, although he very nearly had the tile loose…’Rise and shine…’

………………………………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thanks so much for reading… back in canon? a couple of things have changed and like the butterfly flapping its wings in Argentina and causing a hurricane in Brazil, small changes can make a big difference… best wishes, Magpie ☺


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this… and for some lovely comments on the previous chapters… I hope you enjoy the next bit… ☺
> 
> I don’t own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters. There are some lines adapted from the relevant episodes of the show (some in different order and context though…)

Ride, ride my see-saw

Charlie woke with a start, bright light stabbing at her eyes and making them water… She shut them again, trying to adjust to the light… Where the fuck was she? Her right shoulder was on fire, her belly felt like she’d been walked on by a horse and most of her back as well as a good percentage of both legs – not to mention her butt - were sore as all hell, in fact she was one big ball of hopefully non-life threatening pain - and she really needed to pee… 

She opened her eyes a slit again. Her wrists were tied together with coils of rope and when she tried to lift them she found that that rope was attached to another that ran around her waist a few times then snaked up above her head, holding her up - she gritted her teeth - which must be why her ribs felt like she was being squeezed by a bear…Shit… She opened her eyes all the way again and cautiously started to look around…

‘Rise and shine…’ his voice, hoarse and dry but still unmistakable, came from her right and there he was, tied up like a big Monroe parcel, leaning on the wall of the pool and resting as well as he could in the circumstances, one knee splayed out, the other leg holding his weight, his head against the bottom rung of the pool ladder. 

She looked him up and down and shit, he looked even worse than she felt, and that was pretty damn appalling… He still somehow managed to look big and powerful and drop dead gorgeous though - even nearly dropping dead, damn it… A part of her hoped that she had some of the tied up but still beautiful and dangerous look herself, she’d hate to let the team down… 

She shot him her best ‘you are a stain on the bottom of my boot’ smirk; because she felt like crap and he was the only available human she could take it out on… 

His mouth twitched and he lifted an eyebrow, his eyes somehow letting her know that this was only a temporary set back, that he had a plan… 

Good…

She looked at what she could see of his hands, they were tied behind his back, little drops of blood dripping steadily from his fingers. 

She searched for another injury on his arms, back…anxious despite herself; after all she didn’t care about him, did she? But if he was bleeding that much he could be worse off than she’d thought… 

Then she saw the line of tiles behind him, running around the pool… So that’s what he was doing… 

She looked up to find his eyes on her, their crystal blue depths full of absolute determination and an iron hard will…and she found herself grinning in a kind of admiration. She had to respect Monroe’s sheer will to survive… in the face of everything – even her… She winced as her own assorted injuries reminded her of their presence - and that her own hands were tied in front of her…well, shit again…

Then First guy came sauntering down the slope of the pool towards her, passing Monroe without looking at him, dumb idiot, lucky Monroe… DFG was good looking enough that another time she might, just might, have tried to be nice and get him to let her go that way… except for the fact that she was completely and utterly pissed off and didn’t think she could be that good an actress… 

It also felt a bit strange thinking of using that strategy in front of Monroe – something like betrayal? Which was just stupid, Charlie Matheson; one fuck and she was thinking of him as… as what? She had the strange feeling though that he’d back her up, whatever she did, whatever she needed to do to get away… After all he was the one had told her to go back to the safety (and wasn’t that a laugh) of her family… What she didn’t understand was why both of them were still alive now… especially him… 

DFG stopped in front of her and smiled as though he was about to do her a big favour, ‘Alright, listen up…’ he was carrying a jar of honey and a wooden spoon… 

She felt so not warm and fuzzy with gratitude seeing as how he’d shot her in the first place so she just stared at him, blank face… 

He came a bit closer, cautious… ‘I’m going to patch you up but if you try anything cute you’ll get a whole lot more than a blast of rock salt…’ he tipped his head up towards the top of the pool ‘I think you’ve already met my partner?’ then he shrugged, the smile turning a bit nasty… ‘Well you’ve kinda pissed him off already and he’s really hoping you’ll go with cute…’ 

Charlie looked up and saw old guy up on the edge, his rifle pointing straight at her, saying something in his own language that sounded a lot like he didn’t give a fuck about her health and well-being… 

DF’s eyes moved up and down over her making her skin crawl and her hand itch for her knife… ‘He says his favourite magazine has a picture of someone a lot like you in it…’ he smiled… ‘Although she’s wearing a whole lot less…’ he stirred the spoon through the honey pot… ‘So, if I were you I wouldn’t give him any more ideas…’ 

Charlie felt her stomach churn; survival was the thing though… She nodded, playing dumb and scared… She could feel Monroe’s eyes on her although she didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want to draw any attention to him if he really was working on something… Then she wondered at herself… it was so weird…just yesterday the only thing she could think about was killing Monroe and now, well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that…for the time being anyway…

 

DF with honey guy came closer and pushed back the hair from her right shoulder… 

She jerked back… even that hurt like hell… Then he pushed her jacket back over the wounds on her shoulder and that hurt so much a gasp of pain pushed its way out despite her trying to stop it… 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Monroe look down and away, his jaw working… 

She’d seen him tense up as DF made his little speech about old guy and the magazine… and she remembered his hands on her last night, hard and strong but always gentle… even tied up and bloody he made this guy seem like a non-event…and the pain went away a tiny bit…

‘So how’d you find Monroe…’ something in her face must have reacted to that because his eyes narrowed and a little smile twisted his mouth…’Yeah, we know who he really is…’ 

Fool, she thought, of course you do, why take him otherwise, she kept quiet though… 

Then he started dabbing honey onto the wounds in her shoulder and it burned like all the fires of fucking hell… Her breath came out in hoarse gasps while he did it but she didn’t scream again, she didn’t say anything… She just thought of Monroe’s hands, his mouth on her, his cock in her…last night…. 

Dumb Fuck said something but she was concentrating too hard on not letting him see how much it hurt to get all of it… ‘

His voice came in pieces of jagged sound that grated on her ears through the pain…‘I get why you want to kill …. asshat… I mean… he dropped the bombs on Atlanta and Philly’

Then she heard Monroe say something about sure it was him… and the guy telling him to cram it… then Douche bag turned back to her… and finally stopped dabbing her with that fucking honey... 

The pain gradually crept down to almost, almost tolerable embers…

Dumb fuck spoke again…‘We’ve been tracking him for months… can’t just let you screw it up by killing him…’ 

She tried to moisten her lips although her tongue didn’t really want to cooperate… ‘So what’re you going to do?’ 

He looked a little surprised and gave her a grin that he obviously thought was charming… ‘So you can talk….’ He put the spoon back in its pot… ‘We’re still debating – depends on how pleasant you can be…’ 

She gave him the sneer she’d stolen from Miles adding a touch of her mom’s sarcastic eyebrow ‘With Monroe…?’ 

It was as though she’d slapped him… poor little Bounty Hunter… didn’t know the first thing about the trouble he was in… 

He answered her like the sap he was… ‘We’re taking him to our employers… ‘

She changed the sneer to a ‘that’s interesting tell me more’ glare… ‘Who’re they?’ 

He shrugged… ‘Call themselves the US Government…’ 

Charlie and Monroe were almost in unison… ’What US Government…?’ 

DF turned to Monroe, wearing his own sneer…’you’ll find out soon enough…’ 

Charlie wanted his attention back on her…’Why don’t you just put a bullet in his brain and take him in dead…?’ She felt Monroe’s eyes roll at that one… but they hadn’t done it yet ergo they weren’t going to, besides saying it was in character - for her anyway…’ 

Douche bag Dumb Fuck (she liked that, DD for short…) took a breath…’They want him alive, they were quite clear on the subject…’ He looked almost offended?

She lost it… this guy was a total no brain… ‘Then you’re even dumber than you look…’ She put a teeny little bit more of her genetic heritage into her ‘you poor unbelievably stupid moron’ smirk ‘and believe me that makes you seriously dumb…’ 

He stared at her ‘What…?’ She twisted the knife….’He’s just going to escape and slit your throat, and then you’ll have nothing…’ 

He pouted…seriously… then looked down and folded a piece of wadding into four, pulled her jacket back over her shoulder and shoved the wadding under it, pressing a little bit harder than necessary and making her flinch… but still being nicer than she could believe… 

She wondered how he’d survived this long… 

She felt Monroe’s eyes on her and turned to look… 

He was watching her, a strange smile playing around his mouth, eyes a bit sad? Sad? She’d have to ask him about that later… 

Douche bag DD stepped back, he seemed disappointed, even hurt; such a shame…then his eyes hardened… ‘I liked you better when you weren’t talking…’ he took his honey and turned away… 

Charlie called out to him ‘Hey… I need to pee…’ he shrugged and kept walking ‘Hold it in or let it out, I don’t care… when I’m ready I might come back…’ 

She cursed herself this time… why the hell did she always have to keep pushing… well, suck it up Charlie…  
……………………………………..

He had waited until DD was a few minutes gone… then ‘so where are they? Miles and your Mom…? I’m guessing that Miles is wherever she is, unless they had a falling out…’ 

Monroe’s voice was a welcome distraction but she kept her eyes fixed ahead… She didn’t feel like talking yet – especially about that, and in fact she was trying very, very hard not to throw up; lack of food and water, her assorted collection of pains and the fact that the rope seemed to be getting tighter round her middle were combining to make her feel quite nauseous… 

Monroe appeared to realize because he stopped talking for a minute… 

Then she got her stomach and breathing a bit more under control and leaned back against the wall… and he tried again… 

’You were there… at the Tower…’ his voice was quiet…but it brought back memories that sounded as loud as thunder in her head… ‘It was Randall, wasn’t it… Randall who pushed the button…’ 

She bit her lip and nodded, the images playing in nightmare flashes in her head, the insane eyes of the man inside that room; Miles’ desperate countdown, 15…14… 13… Aaron frantically typing, trying to turn the power off again in time to stop it… Randall smashing the big red button; her mom banging on the window… The white curved lines on the screens that suddenly all went red and then…. the bright, silent, spreading mushroom clouds that burst like new suns over the screens labelled Philadelphia and Atlanta… 

Randall, his face at the window, his eyes triumphant, telling Rachael he was a Patriot, putting his gun to his own head… 

Her Mom staring in horror as his head exploded in bloody rain and everything fell apart again…

Charlie felt sick, remembering…

Then Monroe interrupted the stream…‘I walked him in the front door… I might just as well have pushed the button myself…’ he sounded so sad, so self-pitying… it was pathetic…

Charlie didn’t want him sad or pathetic; sad was no good to either of them… Randall was Randall – he’d have got in somehow… And he couldn’t have pushed that button if her Mom hadn’t (left Nora to die…) and told Aaron to push his own little black button to turn the power back on in the first place… 

She glared at Monroe; he was still agonising… Why did everyone she knew have to fucking agonize all the time over who was to blame for what and how much…? Sure he was responsible for a hell of a lot of shit but then so was everyone else… She was beginning to understand that more and more, and she was out of patience… 

‘I’m sure you’re just torn up with guilt…’ she said deliberately… 

He looked at her as though she had sprouted horns… ‘You don’t know me Charlotte…’ he stood up a bit straighter and his eyes were wet… 

Damn it…he didn’t have the right to cry… if he did then she did and she refused to cry anymore…

He opened his mouth again… ‘A lot of people depended on me to keep them safe… and what did they get for it…’ 

He turned those tear filled eyes away from her and she was glad, she didn’t want to see them… 

‘Cooked in their own skin…’ 

Charlie had had enough… ‘Did it ever occur to you that you sucked at your job…?’ 

He stiffened and turned towards her, straining at his ropes and then she was glad he was tied up because he was suddenly and coldly furious…with her… His eyes snapped at her like blue sparks, reaching for her when his hands couldn’t…

‘Maybe Miles has the right to speak to me like that… maybe… but you don’t…’ he leaned towards her as far as he could… ‘So watch your mouth…’ 

That was more like it… but she pushed it again, just like she always did…. She gave him a smile that Bass would remember forever – challenging him and pulling him fighting out of his well of self-pity… and her next words pierced him like bolts from her bow…

’You’re nothing…. Just a drunk fighting for coin in a whorehouse… and if you won’t put yourself out of your misery… I’ll be happy to do it for you…’ 

He gasped and stared in disbelief at her… arrogance...? Temerity...? Then he shook his head – a grin spreading across his face, a strange little laugh escaping him… although his eyes were fixed on hers and promising retribution…sometime soon… ‘Charlie… you might be trying to run away from your Mom, but you’re a hell of lot like her…’ 

Charlie felt her insides turn molten and wet at the promise in those eyes, and she remembered her hands on him and his on her and how he’d known exactly what she needed… She grinned a feral promise back… 

There he was, as he should be…her beautiful beast… and prey well worth hunting… And as for the crack about her mom, well they could argue about that later, she was nothing like her mom…nothing…

Suddenly he went still… 

The two DF’s were getting heated about something up on top of the pool edge, their voices getting louder… she couldn’t quite hear what they were saying but Monroe was just that little bit closer… 

Then things went quiet up top and he glanced across at her, his eyes intensely blue against the tan of his face… he whispered, voice harsh… ’Charlie… don’t fight them…just do what they say…’ Then he slumped back against the wall of the pool, his eyes shut… he looked like he’d passed out or something… 

She frowned…what the fuck…?

She looked up and DD was coming back down into the pool... This time he looked Monroe over but shrugged and kept on walking when he saw him apparently out cold… 

Charlie didn’t like the look on his face; he wouldn’t meet her eyes, just kept walking towards her… 

She took a deep breath; she had a bad feeling about this… 

’There’s an old toilet block up top if you need to go…’ DD tipped his head towards the ramp up and out of the pool… ‘I’ll take you up…’ 

The rope from her waist to the top of the pool suddenly went slack and fell to the ground at her feet… and glancing up at the pool edge she saw the bearded figure of old guy, his shotgun pointed straight down at her… 

DD brought out a knife and pressed the point to her throat with one hand while he reached down with the other to pick up the rope, winding it a few times round her arms and chest to take up the slack… He kept a little length free, wrapped it round his hand a couple of times then pushed her forwards a couple of steps… 

She staggered and nearly fell, her legs stiff after being still for so long… but she managed to keep on her feet… 

‘If you’re good I’ll even give you some food…’ He started walking her out of the pool, his knife still pressed to her throat… He halted them in front of Monroe for a long moment, checking him out… 

Monroe didn’t move, he looked pale, hurt…even… somehow…defeated? 

Charlie felt her heart sink, she didn’t think he’d been injured that badly but… 

DD let out a little chuckle…’He doesn’t look so big and bad now does he?’ he shoved her forward again…’but then I don’t think the US guys need him for that long anyway…’

………………………………

Once Charlie and the creep vanished over the edge of the pool, Bass took a quick look around up there – there was no sign of the bearded guy either now… Which was good for him, but not so good for Charlie… 

He worked harder at freeing the sharp edged piece of tile, cursing the blood dripping from the cuts on his fingers, making them slippery, hard for him to get a grip; he was nearly there though, just a little… bit… more… 

He felt fear for her swirl in his gut, but what scared him most was the thought that she would do something to make them hurt her badly or kill her before he could get there; she was reckless, he could see her pushing just that bit too hard… 

She had already burned her bridges with the younger one although he had loved watching her metaphorically tear the guy to shreds… 

She was fierce and fearless; she’d made him want to believe in something again and he wasn’t going to let anything fucking happen to her… He gritted his teeth and pulled hard…. and she had known just how to bring Sebastian Monroe raging back from his deep pit of guilt… 

The piece of tile suddenly broke free and he nearly fell forward, catching himself just in time… now for the ropes…

…………………………………

DD pushed Charlie forward and she stepped over the lip of the pool onto the crumbling concrete edging and then the sparse weedy growth around that… 

Old guy came around to meet them… He said something in whatever language it was he used… 

DD pushed her along towards a small building at the end of a path, ‘He wants you to do what you need to do then have a wash, he says you’re dirty and he likes his whores clean, there’s a bucket of water and some soap in there for you…’ 

Charlie had a flashback to Drexel’s place... ‘Does he have a special little outfit for me in there too?’ 

DD pushed her again harder, then yanked on the rope… 

She staggered again… 

His voice was urgent, … ‘Look, I don’t hold with rape… but you really pissed him off hitting him on the head like that…’ He pulled on the rope and turned her round so she could see him… ‘So here’s the deal…’ he bent down to look her in the eyes…’If you’re nice to him, and do what he wants, he won’t hurt you and we’ll let you go… afterwards… I promise…’ 

Charlie looked up at him… He was tall, not as tall as Monroe but tall and strong, and she was still tied up… She decided that doing what they wanted - like Monroe said – until an opportunity presented itself, was maybe the best option she had… ‘Ok… I guess I can be nice…’ 

The guy practically swooned with relief… well at least now she was sure which one was in charge… 

She just had to go along with it a bit longer, do what she could to help herself – they’d have to untie her if they wanted her clean… and delay things as much as possible to give Monroe time to get that tile unglued and get free – that’s if he wasn’t really as nearly dead as he’d looked - and that he felt like helping her at all after what she’d said… 

Charlie looked behind DD, hell he didn’t deserve an abbreviation…she looked behind him and saw old guy, shotgun slung over his shoulder… 

He looked her up and down; his lips twisted behind the long beard in what she thought he meant to be a threatening sneer… eyes focusing for a long moment on her breasts - which bulged a bit over the top of her tank, squished up by the ropes… Then he held up a magazine, pointing to it with his other hand and grabbed his crotch, thrusting forward… 

She tried to look suitably impressed and smiled brightly at him…nodding… He looked taken aback for a moment but then a satisfied smile crossed his face… 

Charlie looked back at Dumb Fuck… ‘Hey - does he speak any English at all…?’ 

Dumbo shrugged…‘Enough to get by – he just doesn’t like using it…says he might be the last of his kind and he’s going to keep using his own language till he dies…’ 

Charlie hoped that was going to be soon….‘Ok…so he can understand what I say then…’ 

Dumbface nodded ‘Yeah…so don’t get smart…he’s stronger than he looks and meaner too…’ 

Charlie turned around and started walking… ‘Well, I might as well get it over with...’ 

Dumbass caught up...’He’s not that bad either, just be nice…’ 

Damn it she’d run out of insults beginning with Dumb… Aaron would be ashamed of her…‘Really?’ She slanted a bright smile up at him…’So what’s your name anyway…?’ 

He looked startled…‘Why do you want to know…?’ she looked at him and smiled again… ‘I just like to know who I might be fucking…I guess I’m funny like that…’ 

He cleared his throat and looked away… ‘I’m Adam… and… he’s Gregor’ 

Her lips were tired of holding that stupid smile so she let him see her real face… So he didn’t hold with rape but was willing to go along with it if someone else held her down… how pathetic… ‘Adam…’ 

There must have been something in her voice too because he cleared his throat again and shoved her forward… ‘Get moving…’

They got to the door of the old shower and toilet block; there was a lamp on the ground that Adam lit and picked up… then he shoved her inside… 

It was a long concrete box of a room, cracked and mostly broken wooden bench along one wall, dirty sinks and broken mirrors in a double rank down the middle, toilets and showers half and half along the other wall… no other exit, tiny oblong windows running around the perimeter of the room near the grimy ceiling… On the bench were two plastic buckets of water, a cake of hard soap, and what looked like an actual towel, she was flattered, really... 

And then, of course, there it was, draped over the edge of the bench… The dress… Black and tiny, it was almost identical to the one she’d worn at Drexel’s… she sighed…déjà vu, how are you…

’Adam…?’ 

He was just standing there as though he didn’t know what to do next…‘yeah…?’ 

Charlie looked meaningfully at one of the toilet cubicles – there were no doors… ‘I’ll be able to get ready a lot quicker if you aren’t watching me…’ she pointed her chin down to the ropes still coiled around her then around the room…’and you’ll need to undo all of this…I mean…its not as though I can go anywhere…’ 

He jumped… ‘Oh, yeah…’ 

She stood still while he unwound her… ‘Why are you doing this for him, Adam… you don’t seem to like it much…’ 

He hesitated for a moment but wouldn’t meet her eyes…’I owe him… but you’re right, I don’t like this…’ He huffed out a breath, then started coiling the rope… ‘But I guess he’s old and…’ 

She interrupted…‘Stop making excuses for him… there were plenty of women in New Vegas who were actually whores’ she felt bad saying that, but it was the truth… 

He actually looked a bit embarrassed… ‘Gregor had a bad run on the tables yesterday, so he couldn’t afford… you know…’ then he shrugged and a grin curved his lips…’but now we’ve got Monroe – and he’s worth a wagon load of diamonds….’ 

She held her hands out…’so I guess it’s my lucky day…’

He undid the rope around her wrists…’yeah…’ 

She slowly stretched her hands out and arms out, the feeling rushing back to her fingers in pins and needles… 

Adam stepped away from her towards the door, knife ready, lamp in his other hand…well at least he was paying her some respect… ‘I’ll just be out here so don’t even think of doing anything stupid…’

She was too busy getting her arms and legs back in working order to think of anything clever to say to that… 

Once she could move without limping too badly, Charlie took a quick inventory… They’d taken her chain belt, her jeans belt…her main knives and had obviously found her boot knives…damn… She still had her bra on so they hadn’t found the garrotte wires strung through the straps…She pulled one of them out, wound it and slipped it in her pocket…

She looked around, first things first… then she needed to work out how to get out of here… 

Adam’s voice came from outside…’I can’t hear you getting ready…’ 

‘I’m just taking care of… you know…’ she called back… hearing him shuffle back a little from the door… 

‘Oh…yeah…ok…’

She shook her head, what a jerk…

………………………………….. 

Bass Monroe stood at the bottom of the pool; a coil of rope held loosely in one hand - his only weapon at this stage, although he could still do a lot with that… 

He studied the steepish incline leading out of the pool then headed up the slope as fast and as quietly as he could, wincing a little as his many aches made their presence felt, shimmying up the last bit on his side… He peered over the ledge...

The older guy was sitting at the concrete picnic table on the grass a few metres away; his back to Bass… The shotgun was on the table next to a dog eared magazine and old guy seemed to be studying the pages spread open on the table in front of him, his left arm moving in a fast rhythm up and down in front of him, right hand holding the pages flat… 

Ok… so where was Charlie and the other guy… Bass did a quick scan of the area… The Bounty Hunter’s wagon was nearby and would give him cover – it might be useful for he and Charlie once they sorted this mess out… Two healthy looking bay horses were tethered and grazing on the grass a little further away… 

Then he spotted the other guy, the younger one, just outside the doorway of the old toilet block; he looked like he was waiting outside for something – or someone… 

Bass grinned…so Charlie must have got him to wait outside for her… good girl… 

He couldn’t see anybody else around; the two men obviously didn’t want to share the bounty on his head with anyone else, the grin widened, white teeth flashing… Showtime…

There was too much open ground for the direct approach…if he went for Beard first, the other guy would see or hear – and that would leave Charlie vulnerable… He had to get her to distract the other guy long enough for him to get rid of the beard… 

Bass crept around the back of the wagon… heading round to the rear of the toilet block…Beard was still occupied with his ‘zine, and the other guy was guarding the toilet block door like his life depended on it…Bass got to the back of the building without any trouble… 

There was a ledge around the high windows about six foot up and it was a good job he’d kept up with his exercises because it was a jump and then a chin up and tired as he was he hoped he wouldn’t need to be up there for too long… He made the leap up to the closest window – glass long gone thankfully – although the bricks were still hard on his lacerated fingers damn it… and lifted himself up, muscles straining, damn it again…and looked inside… 

He nearly fell back down…

Charlie was standing, naked, with her back to him, one long slim leg up on the wooden bench in front of her washing herself down with what looked like soap…

Bass determinedly tore his eyes away and looked for the other guy… no sign of him… So either Charlie was just that good, in which case he could probably leave her to it, well no he wouldn’t… or the guy was being incredibly and unbelievably obedient and gentlemanly – for a rapist anyway…or he was gay… Beard guy must be the prime mover then so he was going with gay… 

He looked back at Charlie… willing her to turn around; then nearly fell down again when she suddenly did… 

She met his gaze with a huge grin and a look in her blue eyes that he would never forget… Then the grin morphed into a scowl and she lifted her hands in a ‘where were you?’ gesture… 

He was so aggrieved, even though the gesture made her breasts bounce in a really good way, that he found the extra strength to lift up just that little bit more so that his forearms were resting along the window ledge… and did she even know how hard that was…? He really wanted her to see him scowl back though…

Charlie had decided she might as well go ahead and have a wash; it kept Adam happy and quiet which meant that he could keep Gregor happy and quiet and thinking that he was going to have a piece of nice clean ass… 

She had the feeling that Adam had to be gay – because he hadn’t tried to peek once, apart from that one time when he was making sure that she was cooperating with the washing thing… He occasionally sang out to her – making sure she was still there, although where he thought she was going to go was a mystery… but otherwise he’d left her alone, not that she was complaining… 

So she had one leg up on the bench, soaping it down when she felt Monroe’s eyes on her; she knew it was him because her heart started pounding so hard that she had to take a moment to settle herself down and her insides turned to mush again… 

He had come back for her… He hadn’t left her… She didn’t know why it meant so much but it did…

She turned around and looked up – and there he was… she felt one of the biggest grins of her life spread across her face, she was so glad to see him… 

Then she remembered who he was…bastard…she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d planned it so he’d catch her naked… Then she jumped when he seemed to suddenly get even higher, his face framed in the window, what on earth was he standing on? And why was he scowling at her? She was the one standing there naked, and in danger…

Bass looked pointedly to where other guy must be standing then back to her… Then back to the other guy… trying to get her to understand that he needed her to get him inside… He mouthed ‘distract him…’ Fuck, she was gorgeous… 

She put her hands on her hips… her lips curving in a teasing grin as she realized he couldn’t move his hands…she considered delaying, just to see him suffer…

Then she nodded… turned to the bench and bent over to pick up a little dress… 

He admired the curves of her ass as she bent… because that was one very beautiful ass and she was definitely showing it off… 

She turned back to him, slowly, and gave him a wicked smile, stepping into the dress one foot at a time and slowly pulling it up over her hips, shimmying into it…her hips and breasts moving in counterpoint… keeping her beautiful blues glued to his all the way…. 

His dick was trying to drill a hole into the wall and his arms were burning like twin welding rods by the time she had the dress almost on…but he wouldn’t have moved to save his life… It was the only ever time in his life that he could remember getting so turned on watching a woman getting into her clothes, not out of them…

But then this wasn’t just any woman…

 

She blew a kiss at him then gave him a ‘go away’ flick of the wrist…turning slightly to show him the buttons at the back – the dress gaping open… 

He gave her a quick smirk and a hasty salute and dropped down; rubbing his arms to get the feeling back then creeping round the side of the building… He was just in time to see the guy vanish inside… ok… Charlie had given him time to beard the Beard.

……………………………………..

Bass moved quietly up behind Beard… it was almost too easy; maybe the guy was deaf or simply too involved in his magazine to pay attention – Bass was close enough to see that it was one of the girly ones – Penthouse or Playboy?? He felt a brief burst of nostalgia for simpler times… 

Beard was working really, really hard at getting his equipment into working order…and normally Bass wouldn’t interrupt a man when he was busy with that…but he was planning to use that equipment on Charlotte and that was just not happening … He quietly took out his length of rope and whipped it round Beard’s neck…twisting him over the seat back and holding the squirming man until he went still and limp…he let the body fall down onto the seat… 

Then while he was making sure the guy really was as dead as he should be, Bass noticed a pile of wanted posters under the mag... And a particularly interesting name jumped out at him…

‘You killed him…’ an agonised cry came from Beard’s other half, who was running towards him across the grass, startling the horses… ‘You killed him…’ 

Charlie was right behind him, looking gorgeous in that little black dress, her hair flying behind her in golden waves, a knife in her hand… looking like something from a Tarantino movie… 

Bass watched her move, because hey it was something to see; waited until the guy was in range then picked up the shotgun from the table and hit him across the head with the butt, dropping him in his tracks… too easy…

Charlie skidded to a halt, long hair swinging round her shoulders… her strong legs and feet bare and beautiful against the green grass. She pointed at beard… ‘Is he dead yet?’ 

Bass shrugged; ‘no pulse, definitely dead…’

She frowned, her eyes stormy…

He grinned, wincing a little as the movement caught the wound on his cheek…’Sorry, next time I’ll wait for you before I kill the bad guy…’

She huffed, then shrugged and slanted one of those wicked smirks at him…’next time?’

Bass reached over to retrieve his rope from around the dead man’s neck… ‘I’ve a funny feeling that with you around there’s going to be a next time…’

She chuckled, then ‘I haven’t said I’m going to be around yet, Monroe…’ she bent over the unconscious Adam… ‘His name’s Adam…’ she flipped the knife…

Bass bent down between her and Adam and tied the guy’s hands behind his back… ’Hold on a minute, Charlotte, we need him alive for a bit longer yet - there’re a few things I think you’ll want to ask him…’ he tipped his head towards the table ‘over there, have a look for yourself…’ 

Charlie went over to the table, avoiding touching the dead man, and the magazine – both filled her with disgust… 

’Wanted posters – for you, Monroe…’ she smirked ‘Well we knew about those…’ 

Bass didn’t smile… ‘Have another look, Charlie…’ 

She stared at him for a moment… then looked back at the posters, leafing through the pile, then she suddenly went very still, holding one in her hand…. She turned to Monroe ‘What do they want with my Mom?’ 

He shrugged…‘I don’t know, but we can ask Adam all about it when he wakes up…’ Bass finished securing Adam’s hands, the rope running down and around the man’s ankles, long enough for him to stand up but not to walk, then he stood up and reached over for one of the posters… 

‘Look at that…’ he pointed to a symbol at the bottom of the page; the same symbol was on all the posters - a series of circles with a triangle superimposed, a dot in the centre… ‘Randall had a ring with that symbol on it…’ His eyes gleamed, ‘Charlie, if these guys are anything like as bad as Randall, we are all in a lot of trouble…’ 

Charlie looked at the poster, then the symbol, then down at Adam… ‘How long do you think till he wakes up so we can find out what he knows…?’ 

Bass looked down and shrugged… ‘Half an hour maybe…’ 

She slanted her eyes at him…that wicked look in them again… ‘Maybe you should gag him too…’ then she turned and started to walk back to the ablutions block, looking back at him over her shoulder ‘Then you can come and help me undo these buttons…’ 

He grinned, his eyes that incredible burning blue…’I’ll be right there, Charlotte…’

Charlie walked, well, to be truthful she ran back to the block, excitement making her skin prickle and her clit pulse… She had to get her clothes, and find out what the two jerks had done with her belt and her weapons, but in the meantime, she had one major itch to scratch… she rolled her shoulders, just to check. She didn’t even hurt anymore, much anyway, could be reaction, but she didn’t care; she was alive and the bad guy wasn’t… She licked her lips, she could hear him coming, her beast. Hate, lust, battle fever… whatever this was she didn’t care…. 

She turned just in time for Monroe to lift her off her feet, his strength making her gasp…’That was fast…’

He carried her in through the door ‘I don’t believe in keeping a lady waiting…’

She wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his neck, holding on and laughing as he juggled her looking for a surface for them to lean on, she could feel him already big and hard and ready against her, his hands under her ass, holding her up, his lips searching for hers… 

He swung her round so that her back was against the wall and laughed against her mouth as he kissed her… Then he slid his hands down along her thighs to the hem of the tiny dress, pulling it up to her waist, drawing a sharp breath in when he found her bare under it… 

His fingers smoothed over then gripped her ass cheeks… ‘I love your ass...’ he whispered against her mouth… ‘I loved watching you bend over to pick up this silly little dress…’ his hands moved between her legs, his fingers playing in her wet folds, his cock hard against her clit… ‘and I loved watching you run across the grass after that idiot…’

Charlie groaned, grinding her hips against him, trying to relieve the delicious ache… It had been an incredible feeling doing her little show for him as he watched through the window… ‘Monroe…’ his eyes met hers and they were like pieces of the sky… she stared…’your eyes are amazing…’ 

He laughed again…’All the better to see you with…’ Then he ran a hand down between them, his fingers sliding through her wet curls, sliding over her clit on the way, two fingers sliding into her, out and back in, again and again… making her gasp, using her legs to pull him closer, her back hard against the wall…

She closed her eyes and moaned, she’d been thinking about Monroe asking her to travel with him… maybe she would… she wasn’t sure about taking him to Willoughby though…not yet…but this, this was something she wanted more of, he made her feel alive, made her want to be alive… 

He’d come back for her… Even after she’d (almost) killed him, after the things she’d said, he’d hadn’t left her, she felt dizzy…

Bass lifted her up higher against the wall, looking into her eyes as he moved the head of his cock through her hot, wet folds… seeing his desire, his lust, reflected in her… He didn’t know where they were going with this but he didn’t fucking care at the moment, all he cared about was the heat in her eyes, the way she welcomed him into the hot, wet wonder of her body… the way her legs wrapped around him, demanding, urgent… her lips on his…he laughed against her lips, and she hadn’t tried to kill him once today…

He slid into her…and he filled her, pulled out and filled her again and kept filling her, her back thumping on the wall, her knees gripping his waist and her arms clinging to shoulders, neck, chest and anything she could hold on to as she flew apart, feeling him groan against her then pull out at the last moment, spilling himself on the floor…resting his head against hers, sliding them both down the wall to the bench…

They stayed like that for a little while… just savouring the moment…then ’We’ve got a wagon and horses, we’ve got supplies…’ Bass said, grinning… 

‘And we’ve got weapons…’ Charlie broke in… ‘and Adam…’ she leaned forward… ‘Undo these buttons for me?’

Willoughby was a long way away, and in the meantime…  
………………………………………… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: hope you liked this, I was having a chat with LoveForTheStory about the bounty hunters – and she thought it might be interesting to explore what might have happened if they had been a little less ‘nice’ we also remembered the magazine that the older BH was looking at and that sort of set the scene for what happened… so thanks Love, I had a lot of fun writing this…☺


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:   
> Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this… and for some lovely comments… Cheers, Magpie
> 
> I don’t own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters. There are some lines of dialogue in the story that are adapted from the relevant episodes of the show.

Ride, ride my see-saw…

It was how he felt after winning a hard fight, or after a battle; his body’s reaction to the stress and then the relief… a combination of exhilaration and adrenaline pounding round his system that needed somewhere to go and so, after Charlie so nicely invited him to help undo her buttons… Bass quickly threw a gag together, shoved it in Adam’s mouth, tied it off around the jerk’s head – taking a moment to make sure that he was still breathing, did a quick visual check round the area, seeing nothing and no one; then scooting over to make sure that the Beard was still dead, yep… all of which took him less than a minute… 

He grinned... strike one up for practice and experience – and two for motivation… 

Then he followed Charlie (well he ran…Monroe be honest…) to that old shower block - experiencing a weird little tug on his memory when he saw the ‘ladies’ symbol still there - stencilled on the outside of the airlock entrance… But then forgetting everything else when he got close to her in that tiny black dress, barefoot; her back to him and that delicious ass outlined perfectly by the tight lace fabric…

Then, when she heard him coming she started to turn towards him, her strong, shapely legs gracefully twisting, one arm raised and her hair swinging, that gorgeous, hungry grin on her face and he had a flashback to her little burlesque show of putting the dress on for him that sent a surge southwards…and now she wanted him to help her take it off… 

He was so turned on that his dick felt like it could run over to her on its own… 

She was facing him just as he got to her and he put his hands either side of her slim waist, hoisting her up… He needed to get inside her right fucking now and by the look on her face she was just as desperate… 

She jumped up to meet him, wrapping those gorgeous legs around his waist, her arms fitting around his neck like they belonged there…gasping as he held her there and carried her inside… 

He found himself laughing triumphantly against her lips as he kissed her, she felt so damn good… He slid his hands down along her thighs to the hem of the tiny dress, pulling it up to her waist, drawing a sharp breath in when he found her bare under it, God, she’d been running around in this little dress and nothing else… He felt himself get even harder…. 

His hands swept over the smooth skin and ripe curves and gripped her ass cheeks, pulling her closer to his impatient cock… ‘I love your ass...’ he whispered against her mouth… ‘I loved watching you bend over to pick up this silly little dress…’ 

He swung her round so that her back was against the wall and she held on to him tighter, her lovely strong legs wrapped round him like the fucking best thing in the world… 

She panted out his name and met his eyes… and he saw his relief at having somehow won out - yet again… and his elation at still being so... fucking... alive reflected right back to him…

’Your eyes are so blue’ she said, wriggling her beautiful self against him… 

He laughed again ’all the better to see you with…’ and damn he felt like a wolf, howling… 

He ran his hand down the front of her, his fingers brushing against her pussy and clit on the way down, his fingers slipping into her hot, tight, perfect sheath like they were meant to be there…

She moaned something incoherent as his eyes followed his hand and there she was – legs spread wide around him and her beautiful pussy spread open against his wrist… 

He frantically searched for and found the buttons of his pants with his other hand – loving the feel of her soft, wet warmth rubbing against the flesh of his arm at the same time… feeling just how ready she was for him... Then he finally got his desperate dick out of jail, juggling her up further against the wall so he could reach her, guiding himself home, his fingers wet with her juices… his cock slipping in to warm heaven itself… 

Her hands were everywhere, on his shoulders, clinging to his arms, then around his neck doing the same thing, and between them they somehow managed to find their balance against the wall…. 

And then it was a fast and furious fuck that had both of them gasping in a timeless stretch of not being dead but so wonderfully still… able… to… do… this… he was lost in her, his body caught in the frantic race up the hill to the top, hearing her scream, hoarse and desperate, matching him thrust for thrust…

He remembered only just in time that he needed to pull out just before everything went sun storm and incandescent, 

They slid down the wall onto the bench, both of them panting as if they’d just run a quarter mile…and as he sat there holding her close, getting his breath and his vision back, feeling her panting and warm and delicious in his arms, her legs draped over him, her head pillowed on his shoulder… he thought that it had possibly been the most intense fuck of his life…

They stayed like that for a little while, just savouring the moment…then ’We’ve got a wagon and horses, and supplies…’ he said grinning… 

‘We’ve got weapons…’ Charlie broke in… ‘And Adam…’ she sat up a on his lap and leaned to the side… ‘Undo these buttons for me?’ 

He had a look at her back… whoa… Whoever made the dress had obviously gotten hold of a shit load of tiny buttons and had decided to use them all on this one dress… No wonder he’d had time to take care of the beard if Adam had had to do these up… 

She play glared up at him…’Anytime now would be good Monroe…’ He put his lacerated fingers to the task…good job the dress was black…

……………………………………….

What seemed like a few short moments after he had disposed of the damn buttons – somehow without ripping any of them off - and fixed his own pants up, Charlotte Matheson had collected her real clothes and was all dressed up as herself again. 

As he looked at her, Bass had to admit that Charlie, in black lace or tank top, leather and tight jeans, unarmed (maybe) but still dangerous and wonderfully unpredictable, pushed every single one of his buttons… 

She was the most exciting thing to happen to him in quite a while… He grinned at the thought, deciding not to dwell at the moment on what could happen in the future, and hell, they could both die tomorrow anyway…so enjoy today, Monroe… 

As soon as she was ready for business though, they needed to get going, they were far too damn close to New Vegas for his liking… He was pretty sure that word hadn’t gotten around about his capture yet – or there would be a lot more fucking Patriots around.. Bookie was a play for another day; the little bastard could wait…

Charlie did up the last button on her jeans and reached for her boots… ‘Hey… Monroe… Thanks, for coming for me…’ she chewed at her lip…’I said some pretty awful things to you back there in the pool… ‘ her eyes sought his… ’I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d just kept on going…’ 

Bass looked up from the bucket where he was washing the blood off his fingers… ‘Charlie, there is no way I’d have left any woman with those creeps if I knew she didn’t want to be there… and absolutely no way I’d leave you…’

Her gaze dropped then lifted to meet his again… ’Even after I tried to kill you a couple of times…?’ 

He shrugged… ‘Can’t say that I blame you for that…I might have tried to kill me too if I were you…but as me and my sorry ass are still alive at least I can do something useful with them…’ He walked over to her… and if he checked her over for anything looking like a throwing star before he got too close, who could really blame him… He chuckled… ‘And having said that… does this mean we’ve got a truce? Or do I need to search you again…’ 

Her wicked grin blazed up at him… 

Damn it he kept forgetting how small she was, because somehow she never seemed small… 

Then she reached into one of the pockets in her jeans…pulling out a length of garrotte wire… and if she had one he had absolutely no doubt there were at least a couple more hidden in other places… 

He nodded approvingly…’the old garrotte wire in the seam trick… did Miles teach you that one…?’ 

Her grin got even wider…’That and a few others…’the grin turned into a full on come fuck me smile…’and I guess we’ve got a truce, for now anyway, but you could search me properly later if you want to, just in case…’ 

The smile and her voice promised so much that his dick came back to immediate and hopeful attention… he licked his lips and narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down… ‘Ok… but it’ll have to be a very, very thorough search, Charlotte, a woman like you could be hiding things in all sorts of places…’ 

He leaned forward, making sure he found and held the hand with the wire in it first… ‘So I’ll be looking absolutely everywhere…’ he whispered against her lips… 

Her breath hitched and she reached up with her free hand to pull his head down closer to her, lifting a leg and hooking it around his, so that her hot crotch was pressed up against him…‘I’ll be looking forward to it, Monroe …’ she whispered back, her eyes dancing… Then she kissed him until they were both breathless… 

When they eventually came up for air he looked down at her and let go, regretfully, his hands wanting to stay right where they were….‘ we’d better get going….’ 

‘We should get going…’ Charlie said at almost the same moment and they both laughed… it was uncanny really, how much they seemed to think alike sometimes… She grinned up at him, grabbing one of the half empty buckets, the towel and the soap, then she picked up the dress and rolled it up, putting it with the towel... throwing him another one of her wicked smirks… 

He sent an echo right back… The little black dress was hers now (and maybe theirs?), not her would-be rapists… Bass picked up the other bucket; the water remaining in it sloshing around… he had a really good use for that…

……………………………………….

As they walked over to where Adam was lying trussed up like a rabbit ready for roasting… Charlie was still buzzing, her breasts tingling, her lips still feeling his… and she remembered how it had felt, waiting for Monroe…knowing that he was coming and knowing what she wanted him to do with her… another aftershock ran from her clit to her belly button then up to her nipples, making her pulse race and another flood of arousal soak her jeans… 

She couldn’t wait until they could do it again… 

Her mission, the only thing she had thought about, the only thing she’d wanted for weeks, after Jeff told her that he'd seen him, had been to find and kill Sebastian Monroe… and now she wondered where the wish to kill him had gone… She liked him, damn it, despite everything that had happened in the past…He was fun, smart, sexy as hell, and strong, strong like her…and they made a good team... So why couldn’t they just travel together and kill Patriots? Somewhere, anywhere, so long as it wasn’t Willoughby. 

She supposed she had to warn her family about her Mom’s name on the posters… but there had to be another way; maybe they could send a message? Surely the rumours of the Patriots had reached Willoughby by now? 

Damn, damn, damn… taking Monroe to Willoughby meant taking him to Miles – who had tried to kill him in Philadelphia and who still might try it again and to her Mom, who had also tried to kill him, according to Aaron. She'd gone to his tent with a grenade, before the gates of the Tower, meaning to kill him, and herself… She didn’t know how Aaron felt now, but the last he knew about it, Monroe had been the enemy… 

Damn it…she didn’t want Monroe to die…

…………………………..

Adam was still unconscious and lying right near the edge of the pool, where Bass had put him… 

Charlie tossed the remains of the water in one of the buckets over his head…and Bass poured the contents of the second bucket over the rest of him moments later… 

The man woke up gasping, his eyes panicked…gulping air around the gag, blinking to get rid of the water, he struggled briefly, then lay very still once he realised how close he was to the edge of the pool… 

Eyes wide and shocked, he looked from one of them to the other quickly, then again more slowly…

Charlie could see realisation dawning in his eyes and her lips curved… ‘Hi Adam…’ she drawled… ‘How are you feeling…?’ 

He looked away from her then up at Bass…’mmffe, mmmf…’ 

Bass bent down and undid the gag – leaving the ropes where they were for the time being… 

Adam spat out a mouthful of accumulated bad tasting crap… ‘You two seem to be getting on better than I expected…?’ his voice was hoarse… he looked up at Charlie… ‘What happened to all the stuff about just ‘put a bullet in his head’...’ 

Charlie shrugged… ‘I changed my mind… he’s much prettier than Gregor, don’t you think?

Adam choked off a laugh and turned to Bass… ‘I’d heard about you and women, Monroe…but man…that’s fast…’ 

Bass smirked down at him and shrugged…’Call me irresistible…’ then he lifted the gun he’d retrieved from where he’d hid it under the table, pointing it right at Adam’s head…

Charlie rolled her eyes at him, went over to the table and picked up the pile of Wanted posters…holding where the bound man could see them… ‘What are you doing with all these, Adam?’ 

Adam shrugged, as well as he could, tied up and horizontal…’They’re bounties, we… I hunt them… It’s sort of all in the job title…’ 

Charlie took out the one with her Mom’s name on it… ‘What do your employers want with this one…?’ 

He looked and shrugged again, ‘What’s so special about that one…?’ 

Bass chipped in ‘Answer the question…’ the business end of the gun moved a bit closer… 

Adam’s face got a little paler and he focused on the end of the shotgun like it was a snake… ‘All I know is…these guys came up from Cuba saying they’re the US government and they pay well – six ounces of diamonds per head, even more for you Monroe…’ his voice became stronger at the mention of the diamonds… ‘There’re probably fifty other bounty hunters with the same posters…’ he lay back down again…’that’s all I know…’

Bass cocked the gun and aimed…

Charlie grabbed the end of the barrel; turning it away…’We’re not going to kill him…’ 

He gave her a look…. ‘Excuse me…?’ 

She looked him in the eye… not backing down, ‘I don’t like killing…’ she glanced down at Adam…’ not unless I have to… ‘ 

She turned back to Bass who had a slightly bemused look on his face… He didn’t quite know how it had happened but she had somehow taken charge of the situation, and shit, here he was taking orders from a slip of a girl after running a republic - although granted that hadn’t worked out so well and this wasn’t just any girl, she was a Matheson…so…

‘We’ll gag him again, get the wagon ready and dump him further down the road somewhere…’ Charlie continued, just expecting him to fall in… 

Adam did the eye roll this time and Bass looked down at him with a very small shrug, receiving back a slightly unnerving look of male commiseration… 

Bass took a long breath… ‘I guess I’ll go and get the horses and the wagon organised then… unless there’s something else you don’t want me to do first…?’ 

She lifted an eyebrow, gave him a sweet, sweet smile and walked the couple of steps past him to put the gag back on Adam, bumping into him – hard - with her shoulder as she did… and damn it Adam the prick had the nerve to wink at him…

Not shooting Adam did mean that he’d have to wait to talk to Charlie about going with her to warn Miles and her Mom, because he didn’t want fucking still alive Adam to hear anything about that… so… he put the gun down like a good little ex-dictator, and went to get the horses… 

………………………………..

 

The horses were hitched up and ready to go… 

Bass had rolled Gregor’s body into the pool, covering it over with piles of dead grasses and an old piece of tarpaulin he’d found by the wire fence…

While he was doing that, Charlie had collected anything useable from the camp and stowed it in the back of the wagon, crowing when she found her chain belt, bag and weapons along with Bass’ swords and knives… 

Bass would have liked the chance to collect the rest of his things from his trailer but it was way too risky to go back there now… There was no way of knowing if Gould was in on things with Bookie or if the little man had acted off his own greedy bat… Anyway, there were enough essentials in the wagon to keep them going for some time, and at least he had his swords…

Then between them they’d tossed Adam into the back of the wagon – still trussed up… 

Charlie had considered (briefly) letting him have a piss first but then changed her mind, although she did tell him she might come back to let him out later… The look on his face was sweet and she smiled as she climbed up beside Monroe… 

He’d jumped into the driver’s seat without even asking, not that she minded, her shoulder was still sore and her assorted other bumps and bruises were making themselves felt again too now that the adrenalin had worn off… she shrugged and reached into her bag for her jerky – absently handing a piece over to Monroe…

He took it with a grin and clucked at the horses…

Charlie took a last look at the place… it was as though nothing had happened there, but somehow everything had changed…

…………………………………

They’d been travelling for a few miles when they came to a fork in the road – another intersection was visible up ahead on both and Adam would definitely have trouble working out where they’d gone with the road as hard as it was and not showing many tracks… well … he would when he woke up of course, which he was showing signs of doing…

Bass was about to give the guy another wack with the butt of the rifle when the bounty hunter spoke up again… 

You know they won’t stop coming don’t you…?’ he looked from Bass to Charlie…’It doesn’t matter that you stopped us… there are lots of others…’ 

Charlie frowned… 

Bass had had enough… he really would have preferred to shoot the guy but when he looked at Charlie she still shook her head, damn it… 

He sighed and looked - sort of sympathetically - down at the man in the dirt, who obviously knew what was coming… 

He made it quick, hard and effective, Adam would have one hell of a headache when he woke up and probably wouldn’t be able to walk straight for a while - but he would still be alive…thanks to Charlie, hell Bass even untied his hands…

Then he turned to Charlie…’He’s right, you know…’ 

She turned an unreadable look on him…’about what…?’ 

Bass jerked his head back towards Vegas… ‘They won’t stop coming… and you know you have to warn your Mom…’ he leaned down so he could look straight into her eyes…’and if I know Miles, he’s going to be with Rachel…?’ 

She gave him a small nod… 

‘So, I’m coming with you…’ 

Her head shot up…’Excuse me…?’ 

Bass got a little closer…’Charlie, like I said before… if these Patriots are half as bad as Randall, we’re all in trouble and you and your family are going to need my help…’ 

Charlie just stood there, her eyes stubborn, lips set… ‘But what if they don’t want your help, what if Miles or my Mom just decide to shoot you, or turn you in to Texas…? Her eyes grew stormy ‘Texas have got a bounty on you too… fuck, everyone still thinks you dropped the bombs, everyone wants to kill you…’

He shrugged; well okay, she might have a point, but still… he got closer… his blue eyes mesmerizingly intense… ‘‘Miles and Rachel might not want my help, Charlie, but they’re going to need it…’ 

Charlie was so torn… She didn’t want to go back but she had to – and if she took Monroe… both Miles and her Mom would probably just try to kill him again and then he’d have to shoot back and then she’d lose all of them… She was so fucking tired of her family’s complicated politics, she wished they’d all just – just grow up… and for a moment she considered just telling Monroe where they were if he wanted to find them so much and they could all sort their stupid selves out without her….

She made up her mind… it was better to leave him here, now, before she got too…involved with him…

She’d go and tell her dysfunctional family herself about the fucking dysfunctional Patriots… 

So she got right up in his face, staring right into those amazingly gorgeous eyes, despising herself for saying it but saying it anyway… ‘You’re delusional, Monroe… I’m not going to tell you where they are just so you can all try and kill each other again’ she felt angry tears starting and swept them away with one hand… ‘You’re all so fucking stupid…’ 

She turned on her heel and started walking furiously down the road…’I’m leaving… and when I’m gone you won’t be able to track me…’ 

He shook his head… damn pig headed woman…of course he’d be able to track her… 

She kept on walking away, that damn, fucking belt swinging on her hips… 

He couldn’t think of a way to stop her without knocking her out, and then she’d probably never talk to him again… Better to let her walk it off and catch up with her when she was hungry and had had time to come round to his way of thinking… 

Then she yelled back over her shoulder…’and if you want to stop me you’re going to have to shoot me…’ 

Heaven help him because for a moment there he was the tiniest bit tempted, even lifted the gun, maybe he could just wing her… He suddenly had the wild idea of waking Adam up so he could complain to him… 

She was being totally ridiculous – So Miles had tried to kill him – once, well maybe twice; ok a couple of other times… but he hadn’t been able to pull the trigger, even when Bass had offered himself up to him… and Miles had let him go after the Tower, made sure he got away…

Rachel on the other hand… well, ok she’d almost certainly have a go, but if he could swing Miles around and get his brother back, Rachel would fall into line…maybe… as for Texas, well…

He considered his options - he could run again, hide out in some other little town, die a slow, slow death…

Or, he could follow her...  
……………………………..

Charlie kept walking…and walking, totally disgusted with herself that she hadn’t stopped to grab her pack or crossbow… She had her belt knife and her jacket so that was something at least, and a couple of diamonds left in her little pocket bag that she was glad she hadn’t given to the Bookie, the slimy little turd… 

But she was totally determined not to go back… 

He could have tried a bit harder to stop her though; damn it… so did that mean he didn’t really want to?? Couldn’t he see that she was doing all this just to save his silly ass from her crazy Mom - and Miles? And why did he feel so fucking obliged to help them anyway…? Miles had called him his best friend, his brother, she remembered him saying that in the tunnels under Philly… but Miles had left him for some reason, and Monroe had burnt his own skin to erase that tattoo, although that could have been because he didn’t want to get caught… 

There were a lot of questions she’d have liked to ask Monroe - and Miles; she sighed… 

She studied the road; there was no sign of him in any direction… she’d doubled back a couple of times though, then branched off to a different road and was pretty confident that even the great Sebastian Monroe wouldn’t be able to follow her – even if did he want to… 

She’d be a liar if she said she didn’t miss him already though… she sighed again… 

Who’d have thought she’d get so attached to him in such a short time…? He was infuriating but good company, and they seemed to make a good team…and as for scratching itches… well…he was really good for that but Charlie Monroe would have to scratch her own itches now… Charlie Monroe…? Freudian slip… Get a grip… 

Damn it she was getting really hungry – and thirsty, although she’d found a stream back a bit further and had had a drink there, but, given that her water bottle was also on the list of things she’d left behind, it was another case of suck it up Charlie, there’d been precious little sign of game either and without her bow she’d have to rely on traps, which meant time… 

It was also getting dark, and she’d have to find somewhere to stop for the night sometime soon. There had been a broken signpost back down the road a bit, for a town called Pottsboro… then suddenly, up ahead, she saw an uneven line of lights through the trees…  
…………………………………..

Bass wasn’t far behind her… he’d been hanging back just out of sight, and definitely out of range of her excellent hearing and even better instincts… He’d seen the signpost and hidden the wagon, following her on foot for a mile or two, just to make sure that that where she was headed - some little one horse town (he’d seen the horse through the binoculars he’d found in the wagon….) called Pottsboro… 

It seemed pretty nondescript, an ordinary little place – one tavern…a few houses, people here and there – a few dogs, and the horse… 

He guessed she’d go to the tavern for a meal…and maybe a bed for the night, although looking at the place, she’d be better off sleeping on the floor - bed bugs and lice were almost certainly included with the room… 

He figured he had time to go back to the wagon, set up camp and bed the horses down… then he’d come back and see if she was ready to see reason…

………………………………….

Charlie sat at the ratty bar and ate her bowl of stew… It was pretty disgusting, but it was hot and filling and there were things resembling meat and vegetables in it…and, more importantly, she was hungry enough that her boots had started to look tasty… so she was grateful they’d had the stew... 

The place had looked ok from the outside, although it was seedy and a bit unkempt, but to be truthful, she was feeling a bit nervous now… managing to keep looking tough and together though, as though she wasn’t worried at all…trying not to look like a victim… 

There were five or so biggish, rough looking men sitting round a table, playing some sort of card game… and another two playing pool, but they’d all pretty well ignored her apart from the usual once over when she arrived that people usually gave to newcomers … and the barman had been polite enough, serving her with something resembling whisky although if it were in the same room with a glass of that they wouldn’t recognise each other… she’d drunk it anyway… 

But now he had come to sit next to her and her alarm bells started to ring… ‘I like a woman who can hold her liquor…’ he said as she finished the glass, smiling at her – although it didn’t reach his eyes - and getting far too close… 

She got her knife hand ready but still tried to play nice, giving him a sort of half smile and a non committal grunt…

’Here, have another one… on the house…’ he pushed another glass towards her, over the greasy counter… 

She finished the last spoonful of stew and pushed the plate away, taking a casual look around the room… 

The guys at the table had all put their cards down and they were all looking at her…so, uh oh… 

She stood up… ‘Thanks but no thanks… There’s somewhere I’ve got to be…’ trying to stay calm although her insides were crawling…

He stood up too, smirking at her, his eyes hovering at breast height…’Ouch…there’s no reason to be so rude about it…’ 

She headed for the door… and damn; there was a large, locked padlock on it now… Shit... She pulled on the door anyway, it rattled but stayed shut… Charlie took a deep breath in and looked back at the room… 

The men at the table were all standing up now, and a couple had moved away from their chairs… 

‘You should let me go…’ she said, knowing that they wouldn’t… Shit again… what was it with the men around here...? 

‘Not just yet…’ the barman was creeping up on her and the others were much closer now, hovering in a semi circle, their eyes on her like weights… some were smiling, some just looking… none of them saying anything, and they made Gregor the creep look like some kind of silly joke… 

She pulled her knife out, swinging it front of her…waiting for one of them to make the first move… 

Then a tall black guy did, rushing at her… knocking her back into the window with his shoulder, her knife glancing off his belt…

She felt the window give way, the glass smashing outwards as she landed – and there was a sharp pain, jagged and fiery in her elbow and the soft flesh of her arm… 

Then a couple more of them rushed her, the first laying a punch to the side of her face; and she felt her lip split inside, tasting blood…

She shoved them, nearly dropping her knife, just managing to hold on to it… she grabbed a pool cue from the table in front of her with her other hand and broke it in half against the table, using it to smash into them, fighting for her life…

But they broke around her like waves, just moving out of reach then coming back to hit her again… 

She could see the barman out of the corner of her eye; he was staying back, just watching… 

Then another big guy came forward, getting a slash from her knife across his shoulder for his trouble…and the barman shouted something… she couldn’t work out what… 

The big guy and the others stopped coming at her, they just hung back… surrounding her… 

She lunged at them, but they simply moved out of her way… their eyes hungry, waiting and circling her like wolves round a wounded deer… Then one of them darted forward and hit her a backhander and she felt a burst of pain and went flying into the corner, slowly sliding down the wall, her legs folding under her… 

After that everything started to go slow, like she was underwater…. sounds were rippling, far away and the men’s faces came in and out of focus…

’What did you give me…?’ her voice came out sounding slurry, echoing… 

The barman grinned, suddenly right in front of her, his teeth showing in a horrible smile… 

She flailed out with her knife – somewhere in his direction, the pool cue falling from her suddenly nerveless other hand… and she remembered the drink, looked up at the bar…shit…

He came even closer, that grin wider…. ‘Looks like you can’t hold your liquor after all…’ and his hands came for her… 

Charlie felt a sense of hopelessness land on her like a stone… she was fighting to stay conscious let alone fight… She felt herself sliding further down the wall onto the floor, unable to stop, she couldn’t feel her feet, couldn’t move her arms… 

So much for keeping her stupid to a minimum… 

There was no Miles or Maggie here to save her, she’d never counted on her Mom anyway… and she’d left Monroe behind... Why should he look for her again after the things she'd said? And even if he did how would he find her in time…? There was nobody coming, she was on her own… She looked up at the approaching men, determined to go out fighting, maybe she could make them kill her first...

………………………………

Bass was just stepping out of the woods a short distance away from the building, his boots crunching on the remains of the bitumen at the edge of the old road when he heard the sounds of glass breaking and fighting coming from the tavern… 

He moved quickly just in case, although surely even Charlotte Matheson couldn’t have got herself into trouble again this soon? 

As he got closer though he could see the shapes of several men clearly through the broken window, all looking one way – at Charlie, standing with her back to him… so yes, of course she fucking had, trouble seemed to follow her around like a pet dog, and hadn’t he’d warned her about places like this…? 

Then one of them backhanded her, sending her flying… 

Bass ran for the door, finding it locked from the inside, then seeing red didn’t cover it… he was seeing blood…He stepped back then hit it with a roundhouse kick - and it went flying open, the padlock swinging off the broken edges… 

He stood there for a moment out of time, his eyes searching for her… 

There, in the corner, slumped against the wall, some part of him noting that she didn’t appear badly injured… she looked totally out of it though, the bastards must have drugged her…   
The part of him that was a soldier was at the same time noting the positions of the men in the room, calculating his moves… There were six? seven of them… seven… against one woman… all of them standing there, stunned, angry at the intrusion but recovering quickly…

He drew his swords and felt his mind and body focus on the job; his eyes empty of anything but that… 

Charlie heard the noise of the door crashing open and looked up into burning blue eyes, thinking she was dreaming…. But then he moved and she knew he wasn’t a dream… Monroe was here, somehow he’d found her...a great crashing wave of relief tossed her around, but there were so many of them, how could he fight so many? She squinted, trying to see.. he had a sword in each hand unless the drugs were making her see double… She felt her lips curve at the thought, silly, then there’d be two Monroe’s…so yeah...he used two swords at the same time, Miles only used one, ha…

She felt herself fall, sliding all the way to the floor…the wall behind her holding her head and shoulders up so she could still see everything, although nothing was making much sense…

Bass took another look at her, making sure she was out of the way... then he swept a look at the waiting men, who were already dead but just didn’t know it yet, they were looking at each other too, working out who would go first…. 

Time seemed to slow down as the first one rushed him, clumsy and off balance… and then he was dead, and Bass moved on to the next and the next…and the three after that, his swords slicing and dicing, blood streams floating in their wake… 

He was aware of Charlie watching him; her eyes blinking and unfocused, but somehow managing to keep them on him – a sort of wonder in them, and a smile on her lips as he slaughtered all of them, one after the other, for her; for fucking daring to do this to her, for putting their filthy hands on her, for fucking drugging her… For almost…. there was another word but he didn’t want to even think that one… 

Then there was only one left… 

This one had been hiding behind the others as they fell and now he was crouched on the floor, staring at Monroe like he was death himself, and he wasn’t fucking wrong… 

Bass lifted him up and shoved him backwards onto the pool table, his blood covered machete against the man’s throat, holding him down, and then, with his eyes fixed on Charlie’s face, holding her gaze with his… Bass gave her the man’s death as a present and a promise and an apology for nearly being... too… fucking… late… 

He shoved his other, even bloodier sword straight through the rotten, dead heart and deep into the table underneath…

Then he stood for a moment, breathing hard, not with the killing; that had been almost too easy… His heart was thudding in his chest with the terror of nearly having been too late… they’d nearly had her… and the thought made him want to kill them all over again… 

He took a slow, deep breath, trying to get back into the moment, and himself… he needed to get her out of here fast in case there were others around who’d heard the noise and came running… although, and he looked round at the bodies scattered on the floor; by the look of the men he’d just slaughtered, the townsfolk would be grateful to him for ridding them of their vermin…

But he still wanted to get Charlie away from here, and get her sober… 

He wiped his swords on dead guy’s shirt and slid them back in their sheaths with the smooth ease of long, long practise… then he turned to her…

Charlie gazed up at his face as he came closer and it was the strangest thing… he got bigger and closer but the only thing she could see clearly were his eyes, burning blue… 

She blinked and it must have taken a long time because suddenly he was there and she felt herself rising up into the air…

Her head fell back against his shoulder, her neck floppy, useless, one arm flopped behind his shoulder, the other one hanging…and she tried to lift them up around his neck to help but they wouldn’t do what she told them either, shit… She felt the muscles in his arms flexing as he took her weight, shuffling her a little to get her settled against him...

‘Good thing I’m little and… skinny…. Monroe…’ shit, her voice sounded weird… she felt a rumble in his chest, and it vibrated through her… so she chuckled too…. 

He laughed down at her and she watched the laugh come out of his full lips, over his curly beard… she followed it with her eyes and smiled back, it was a wonderfully sexy laugh…and in a little moment of vague clarity she wondered what sort of drugs they’d given her…

Then his chest was rising and falling, rising and falling against her cheek… It was very nice, like being in a hammock… then, the ceiling was moving away and suddenly they were outside and there were stars and the moon…. 

She lifted her hand; at least she thought she did - a finger pointing at the moon… ‘Look, Monroe…’ then she felt a drop of water on her face… ’And it’s raining…’ 

She frowned and looked up because there were no clouds so how could it be raining…? But then she realized it wasn’t rain… it was him, ‘Monroe…?’ 

His arms tightened around her but he kept on walking ’Shh…Charlotte…’ his voice was so…angry? Sad? Angry…? She couldn’t work it out…too complicated… 

He took in a deep breath, she knew that because she could feel his chest suck it in, then he let it out and she felt that too…. ‘Charlie…didn’t I warn you about places like that…?' his voice was harsh, cracking... 'They would have…’ another drop fell onto her cheek…’Charlie, I was only just in time…’ 

She made a huge, huge effort and reached up to pat his cheek, feeling wetness on her fingers…’It’s ok, Bass…you found me… and you were amazing, you killed them all...and you had two swords…’ she looked confused…’I think…’ She ran her fingers through the soft hair of his scruff… ’But how did you find me…?’ everything was getting very hazy… 

He kept walking… ‘Charlotte…’ he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips… ’You’re not as hard to track as you think… now just relax, we’re nearly there and we can argue again when you wake up…’ 

‘Ok…’ she felt so warm and floaty… ‘So what were we arguing about?’ 

‘It doesn’t matter, Charlie…’ and he kept walking… he thought for a minute that he'd heard her call him Bass, but then that could have been just the drugs talking, or his wishful thinking…

He was learning not to take anything for granted when it came to Charlotte Matheson…

……………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: there’s a bit more to this story but I thought I’d stop here for now as the word count was getting bigger and bigger…. Hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment if you have a minute, I really love reading them – and like others have said, comments inspire us to write more and try harder, all the best, Magpie ☺


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this… and for some lovely reviews, I got this ready to post sooner than I expected so - two in one day!! … ☺
> 
> I don’t own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters. There are some lines of dialogue adapted from the relevant episodes of the show.

Ride, ride my see-saw… 

Charlie woke up, blinking, to the sound of summer rain, falling on trees & leaves and grass and on to some sort of canopy above her – exposed beams…tin roof…? 

Little runnels of water fell in long lines and drips to the ground from the raggedy edges of the wood and tin a little bit beyond her. It was dark and she could see stars off in the distance past the bright, moon lit edges of cloud and the steady fall of rain… There was the crackle and warm flickering light of a fire close by and the smell of something cooking… 

She looked across the fire and there he was… Monroe… She struggled to sit up…

’Take it easy Charlotte…’ he tossed her a water bottle…. it landed just in front of her hand… ’Drink… you need to flush the drugs out of your system…’ 

She tried to sit up again but her body felt like one of the horses had rolled on it…oh God and her head…’

‘Take it easy and have a drink Charlie…it’ll help….’ 

She closed her eyes but that definitely didn’t help so she opened them a crack again…the world was spinning and going up and down at the same time…. ‘How long was I out…?’ she hardly recognised her own voice, it was so shaky… 

He poked at the fire…’a whole day…’ he poked the fire again…’but don’t worry, I was a perfect gentleman the whole time…’ he flashed her a look she didn’t know how to interpret…a sort of sympathy?? 

She finally managed to get herself into a sort of cross-legged semi upright position, her head pounding, located the water bottle and lifted it to her mouth, managing not to miss… The water was cold and, oh… that was good…. She licked her lips and put the bottle down, looking over the fire at Monroe… trying to focus … 

He looked really tired and in the firelight his eyes seemed hollow and haunted…. 

‘You found me…’ there was such a lot more but that was all she could get out… 

Monroe poked at the fire…‘you’re not the only one who knows how to follow tracks Charlie … I was behind you pretty well all the way…’ 

He reached for a pan of something (beans??) from over the coals and used his knife to take a little of whatever it was out to have a taste… Then he shrugged and sent a slightly exasperated look her way… ‘You lost me for a little while when you doubled back on that other road but I picked up your trail again once I found the sign for Pottsboro…’ 

Charlie actually felt a bit embarrassed… ‘Oh…’ she had a flash of memory - a room full of rough men with hungry eyes and grasping hands, circling around her… Then Monroe crashing through the doors and just…killing them all…

’I wasn’t really trying that hard to hide…’ she looked over at him, her eyes challenging him… 

‘Are you saying that you wanted me to find you Charlie…?’ he put the pan back on the coals with a clatter of sparks…his eyes hard, angry… ‘So why the fuck didn’t you turn back and make it easier for me rather than going into that place…?’ 

She tipped her head forward, carefully; it all seemed pretty stupid now… ‘I was pretty sure you’d try to find me…’ she studied her feet… ‘I mean… I hadn’t told you where Miles is, and I know you want me to do that…but I wasn’t sure what to do… and I was hungry…and pissed off…’ she faded off…’I was going to turn around and find you in the morning…’ shit, she was sounding lamer by the second…

He sighed heavily…’so you nearly get yourself gang-raped and murdered just because you were hungry and pissed off at me…’ 

She fired up at that …’There was no way I could have known those guys were going to be like that…’ 

Then suddenly he was in front of her, his face close to hers and his eyes furious… ’Charlotte, I told you that this was bad country and you go into a strange bar, full of men you don’t know, on your own and with almost no weapons… you weren’t fucking thinking…again…’ 

Charlie glared back… although he was right, and there was nothing she could say to that…

He took a deep breath then let it out between his teeth…his face set into harsh lines…’I was nearly too late Charlie, a few more minutes and they’d have been on you…’ he sat back…’and after that I had to sit through the night and just watch you breathe in case they’d given you too much of whatever crap it was they doped you with…as well as waiting for their friends to come searching for whoever killed their buddies…’ 

Charlie remembered him carrying her away from that bar and something like rain falling on her face…but it wasn’t all her fault, was it…? ‘Why are you being like this Monroe…?’ she was suddenly angry herself now… he’d saved her life but now he was angry with her…? ‘You just want me to take you to Miles and my mom … so you can show them that you’re all good now and that you want to help them fight the big bad Patriots…’ her eyes were narrowed with her own anger and hurt… ‘You say what you want to get what you want… you’re a psychopath, and a killer…’ 

He’d dropped his knife on the ground, she suddenly saw it and found herself moving for it…but his boot got there first and then he was right up close to her again… his eyes a brilliant and piercing blue – stabbing into her like knives… ‘You’re right about one thing Charlie… I am very good at killing; I think you noticed that even when you were fucking drugged to the eyeballs…’ 

Her eyes flickered and she looked away, chewing her lip and fighting back stupid, stupid tears…

He pulled her head back by the chin with hard fingers so that she had to look at him…’But I’m even better at killing when I’m with your Uncle…’ He came even closer, his voice low, harsh…’Charlie, these Patriot guys… they’re going to be really bad… I can feel it… and the only way we’re going to have a chance at fighting them, at surviving whatever they’ve got planned is if we all work together…’ 

Charlie stared at him, still angry – still hurting… He still hadn’t said that he’d wanted to find her, Charlie, and not just because she could take him to her folks, not really… ‘What if I tell you to go to hell, Monroe…’ he smiled grimly and pressed a hard kiss on her lips… ‘What makes you think you’ve got a choice… 

Bass pulled back from her with an effort that cost him almost the last bit of his energy, and he rubbed his hand over his face… careful not to block his view of her… 

He was really tired, it was getting hard to think clearly, and as well as that he knew that a lot of his anger was with himself and he was taking it out on her… He’d known where she was and he hadn’t checked things out to make sure she’d be safe… He’d just merrily gone and set up camp and left her there, and if those men had finished what they started it would have been his fault… 

He couldn’t and wouldn’t let it happen again… 

She’d so quickly become a part of his life; she was part of his family – even if she didn’t think so – yet…   
So she was his responsibility… 

He…cared about her…he…. didn’t know how to say it, didn’t think he could say it yet…especially to her… He’d just have to work out how to get her to work with him, maybe trust him… or if he couldn’t do that, keep her from running away again…but first, he needed to get some sleep…

…………………

A little later Charlie lay trying to relax although she was still pissed at him and he still hadn’t said anything about how he felt about her, that maybe he wanted her because she was Charlie… not just because she could take him to Miles and her Mom, not just because she was a Matheson… 

She lifted her left wrist, looking at the handcuff there, cushioned over a piece of leather to stop her slipping it off… Stupid bounty hunters… 

He’d found the cuffs in their wagon – there was even a key… although unfortunately said key was in Monroe’s jeans pocket on a chain attached to his sword belt…and that was on the side of Monroe furthest away from her… 

The other ring of the handcuff was currently locked around Monroe’s right wrist…which meant that unless she was able to get the key – or she chewed through her own wrist, she wasn’t going anywhere without him.... Not that she had any intention of leaving him again - for the time being anyway... Her confidence had suffered a serious blow back in that bar… She couldn’t ever remember feeling so… helpless, so completely lost… There was absolutely nothing she could have done to help herself once she went in there and took that first fucking drink… 

He’d tied her other wrist to the back axle of the wagon, her ankles were also tied comfortably but tightly together and the rope around them was looped up around the rope holding her right wrist… She could move her legs to the sides or lie straight to get sort of comfortable but couldn’t do much else… 

He’d said he was too tired to search her properly and didn’t trust her with even one hand – or her feet, free… She felt a wry grin curve her lips…he was right about that… but she’d let him do it without trying to stop him or complaining - much… and she hadn’t tried too hard to get loose… She thought he deserved a bit of a break… 

Charlie knew just how lucky she was to be alive – and how very close she had come to something she’d really rather not think about... she shuffled her legs to the side… and none of her hidden assets had done her the slightest bit of good, there – or with the bounty hunters… Maybe it was time to rethink things… maybe there was a way for she and Monroe to work it out…maybe they could go to Willoughby and he could just meet up with Miles first, then they could work something out about dealing with her mom…

He’d tied her up, clipped on the cuffs, and then told her to keep watch – although what use she’d possibly be all tied up – and handcuffed to him - she had no idea… Then he had lain down and… just… gone to sleep…

She glanced at Monroe, his eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling regularly, he looked peaceful, and younger, asleep… 

The light from the remains of the fire - a little way away on his side, flickered over his face, outlining his sweat darkened curly hair, moustache and beard and the line of his profile in golden light and purple shadow… the moon above adding little shards of silver to everything… 

The wound on his right cheek from the pool was still visible, like small, dark hollows under the line of his cheekbone… His shoulders were broad and relaxed and she could see the outline of his strong neck and chest under his shirt… His long legs stretched down what seemed like a very long way past hers, feet still in his boots - he’d left hers on too…. Head pillowed on his old leather jacket, he was lying on one of the bedrolls they’d found in the wagon. 

She was on the other one… It still smelled like bounty hunter - hopefully it was Adam not Gregor… and she was planning to air it out properly in the morning once she’d sorted things out with Monroe. It was a warm night and thankfully she hadn’t needed any other cover than her clothes – but he’d made her put her jacket on before tying her up just in case…

She was feeling really guilty – and stupid - now… She was the one who had walked away from him – not even trying to work out some sort of compromise… just getting angry again, taking the easy way out… And she was the one who had walked into that place, without any plan in case she needed to get out...  
She was also starting to think that he – and Adam – could both be right, that the Patriots weren’t going to stop… 

She’d seen Randall Flynn, had seen his eyes…heard him say he was a Patriot, watched in horror as he sent the bombs that had destroyed whole cities, killed thousands and thousands of people… What else were the Patriots willing to do? Or rather what wouldn’t they do? 

She’d let her own feelings about going back to Willoughby and facing all the crap there take her over and cloud her thinking… 

She’d been stupid and she had to admit it…If it hadn’t been for Monroe…Bass, she’d be dead now - or wishing she was… He’d saved her life… and though she didn’t want to think about what had so nearly happened back in Pottsboro she knew she’d never forget it – or the absolute relief and gratitude, and maybe something else - she’d felt when he came bursting through that door… 

Probably no one else but Miles could have done what he did, alone… The way he had just – mown through those men still made her breath catch in amazement, and thank her lucky stars that he had found her when he did.

She wanted him to know she was sorry, although she didn’t want to wake him up, he hadn’t slept properly for days when she counted it up… there’d been the night of the fights and the trailer, then the pool, then the night watching her… even someone as strong as he was had to be beyond exhausted by now.

She wanted things between them back the way they’d started in his trailer and had been when they were together after the pool… It had all somehow gone wrong and she wanted to fix it… There was something she could do though, and she just hoped he wouldn’t push her away… 

There was enough give in the chain joining the rings of the cuffs for her to move her hand a little… so she turned her hand round and felt for his fingers, lacing her own through his larger ones, pressing her palm against his… 

For a moment his hand just lay passively in hers, then he let out a sort of huge sigh, wrapped her hand in his fingers and moved his arm so that their joined hands were resting on his side, just above his hip… She could feel the firm, warm flesh of his belly moving up and down with his breath… and with his hand holding hers firmly, she lifted her head up to do another sweep of their surroundings…

There was a rustling sound off to the side of the wagon, but it was just the horses… and she settled back to keep watch…  
……………………………………..

He woke up just as the birds started announcing that dawn was happening really soon, her hand still firmly held in his. The sun was up just enough to let her see the outline of his face…

He rolled over to face her… his blue eyes so close…a question in those swimming depths…

She gazed into those eyes…‘Miles and my Mom are in Willoughby, Bass’… it felt strangely right to call him that now….‘They’re in Willoughby, Texas - with my Grandpa…’ 

The eyes widened, then went a soft, gentle blue…

She kept looking, wanting him to see the truth in her own eyes…’If you want to go, I’ll take you, I promise…’ 

A little smile started at the corners of his eyes and mouth, he took a breath…and bringing their joined hands up to his mouth, he dropped a kiss on her knuckles…’Well… that gives us a few weeks to get some strategies together doesn’t it, Charlie…’ he sat up and reached into his pocket with his free hand for the key to the cuffs… ‘Maybe I could talk to Miles first…? See how it goes?’ 

Charlie nodded… turning her wrist so he could see the lock more easily…’I was thinking the same thing… If it works out with Miles then we can all work on my Mom…’ she wriggled her fingers and stretched her arm to get some of the stiffness out… 

Bass moved down to her legs and started undoing the rope around her ankles…’If it really doesn’t work out with your folks, and you don’t want to be there, Charlie…’ He caught her eyes with his and cleared his throat… ‘You and I could always go and fight the Patriots somewhere else…maybe…?’ 

She didn’t know what to say... ’Why would you want me along…?’ 

He’d undone one ankle…but paused, eyes down - studying the rest of the knot…’You’re a good fighter, Charlie… the odds in that bar were pretty bad, but you fought as hard as you could… I saw some of it through the window before I got in there…’ 

His eyes went hard and his hands tensed on her ankle as he remembered the sight of the men circled around her… He let go and started on the other ankle, winding the rope as he went…’You can hunt and track and you made it all the way to New Vegas on your own...which is pretty damn impressive all by itself…’

She kept still as he worked, watching his face, the play of emotion there… 

He’d freed both of her legs, and moved up the side of her body to her right hand…reaching for the knots…  
Her knuckles were bruised, and blood had dried reddish brown in the creases of her skin… The elbow of her jacket was stained with a little blood too – and she remembered smashing through the window… 

‘We seem to work well as a team…’ he grinned…’even when we’re fighting each other…’ he bent down and reached under the back of the wagon to untie the end of the rope there; ‘You’re a good sport…and one amazing lay….’ He came back out, his teeth flashing…’although hey… no pressure…’ 

She looked him up and down…with the beginnings of a smile curving her lips; she was suddenly feeling a whole lot better… he’d as good as said he’d choose her over Miles and her Mom… 

’You’re not so bad at that yourself, Monroe…’ her eyebrow lifted when his grin became a bit too cocky…‘A little bit less of the taking for granted thing and you might just get lucky again…’ 

His grin only got wider and he brought her hand up to his lips, gently pressing a kiss onto the bruises there…

Charlie couldn’t help it… even though the kiss was lovely, the pain in her shoulder and elbow when he lifted her arm wasn’t and she gasped at the pain… 

The blue eyes above her were instantly contrite…’Shit, Charlie, I’m sorry…I forgot about your shoulder…’ He quickly got rid of the rope, tossing it under the wagon… stood and stretched his back out…then reached down to help her up…’can you get up…?’ 

She tested her assorted aches and pains… they were awful in combination but singly she thought they weren’t too bad…’I think so…’ she brought her knees round and got up on those… then leant on his hand to get herself to her feet… everything swam a little but apart from being really sore pretty well all over, starving hungry, dry as a desert and really needing to find a handy tree she was amazed that she actually felt, well ok wasn’t really the word, but it’d do…

He put a hand around her waist and she tried a few steps…all good…well everything seemed to work ok anyway… 

He led her to the back of the wagon and showed her a little stack of towels next to a small box… ‘I found some soap, and the honey… I also found us a spot near the river so how about we go down and get cleaned up…’ he grabbed a couple of the towels and opened the box…

She looked up at his face; he looked… sort of… happy…? 

She didn’t think she’d seen a look like that on his face before, but then maybe a similar one was on hers too, it certainly felt that way… Relief… a bit of sleep, deciding on a plan they could both live with? Not being alone? Not being in immediate danger of losing their lives…? 

‘Hey, Monroe… Bass?’ 

‘Yeah?’ He tossed the towels - bounty hunting had obviously been profitable - over his shoulder, took a cake of soap from the box, putting it the precious oblong carefully into his shirt pocket, then turned to her…

Charlie moved up close, reached up with her good (well, better) arm and pulled his head down, kissing him gently just beside his mouth… ‘Thanks for coming to get me…’ 

He pulled her into a careful hug, and they just stood there for a long moment… 

Charlie could feel his heart beating, his breath moving her hair, his strong, hard body against her, his scruff, soft against the skin of her cheek, and after all that had happened over the last few days it was like being under a calm and peaceful sky after a storm had passed…

Bass felt the kiss long after her lips had moved away… he held her in his arms and just enjoyed the moment…

……………………………………….

The walk down to the river wasn’t too bad once she got her legs moving, and Bass (she would think of him like that now – until he made her angry again maybe…) helped her down the steepest part to a little, sheltered sandy beach where he dropped the towels, the soap and the buckets for rinsing… 

He’d retrieved her spare set of clothes; jeans, tank, bra and undies from her pack… and had found some spare clothes of Adam’s that would fit him – his own had been left back at the trailer. 

There were trees and shrubs scattered all along the banks and Charlie could see signs of rabbits and deer – even some cattle tracks…leading down and from the water… If they had time she could catch them something a bit better to eat than beans… but first… she picked a tree and walked carefully over…

Bass kept a discreet eye on her while she did what she needed to do… then when she limped out from behind the tree he went across to help her down onto one of the towels… 

‘You want a hand to get out of those…?’ he waved a finger at her jeans and boots…

Charlie found herself feeling a little embarrassed, which was totally weird given that he had seen her completely naked in his trailer and in the shower block back at the pool and had fucked her till she screamed out his name both times… but this was a bit different… 

She really did need the help though, her right arm was so stiff she could hardly move it – and not because he’d tied her up… the men in the bar had hit her several times and she’d fallen into the window, the table and god knew what else… there was also the salt wounds on her shoulder too…and her back and legs were complaining each time she moved…

She nodded, grateful…

He did another visual check around; just to make sure they were safe… Then he crouched down at her feet, removing her boots one by one, then her socks…what was left of them anyway… 

He looked up at her holding them up for her to see…‘I think we’ll have to get you some new ones…’ 

She gazed sadly at the tattered, holey pieces of fabric… then groaned as he started to massage her feet… she just lay there enjoying it for a minute then managed to reach down to undo the button of her jeans again, and started to shuffle her butt out of them… Bass pulled gently on the bottoms of her jeans and they slid down her legs and off…

Her legs had patterns of bruises and scrapes all the way up to her thighs, were hidden by her tattered briefs and then continued up to her waist; he shook his head ‘Oh, Charlie, you look like a Dalmatian…’ 

She tipped her head, levered herself up into a sitting position with her left arm ‘what the hell’s a Dalmatian…?’ 

He tossed her jeans into one of the buckets, got up and came around to kneel behind her to help her off with her jacket… ‘It’s a sort of dog… has lots of black spots…’ he paused…’a beautiful Dalmatian…’ 

She shrugged, rueful…’Thanks, I think…’ then winced as he pulled the sleeves of her jacket down over her arms… the sleeve had stuck a little to the injury on her elbow but once it was off she felt a lot more comfortable, thankfully it felt worse than it was… Then he pulled her tank up and over her head, and there were more bruises but that wasn’t surprising… what was though was that he stopped there…

She sat in her bra and undies, turned around to him and lifted an eyebrow…’what is it…?’ 

He put his hands on his knees…’I wanted to make sure you felt ok about me touching you, seeing you naked… you know… after what happened in the bar…?’ 

Charlie was grateful… and it was yet another side to Sebastian Monroe that she hadn’t really known about, but she didn’t mind at all… She leaned back against him, resting her head against the lovely hollow between his shoulder and his chest… 

His arms came back gently around her, his hands careful, gentle…

’I feel just fine about it, Bass…’ she turned her head and looked up at him…’I want you to touch me… I don’t care about those men, they’re gone…you got rid of them…’ 

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling her against him… he really hadn’t known how she would feel; how it might affect her… he’d forgotten the Matheson resilience again… Then he smiled… ’Charlie… you’re amazing…’ 

She nodded and grinned back, her dimples flashing…’I know…now, take the rest of my clothes off – get yourself naked and then lets get clean….’ 

He unhooked her bra, gently sliding it down and off her arms… there were a few small cuts on her right elbow, and several large bruises on both shoulders and down her back…although her breasts had been protected by the padding of the bra… 

’You’re going to be sore for a few days Charlie…’ 

She shrugged lightly…’I’m alive, I’ll be fine…come on…your turn…’ 

Bass stripped his shirt off then his t-shirt, stood up and undid his belt and jeans buttons… 

She leaned on her better arm and looked up at him, ’and the rest…’ her lips curved… ‘I’m feeling better already…’ 

He gave her his wide grin…eyes crinkled and teeth gleaming… ‘Charlie…your eyes are sparkling…’ 

She shimmied – carefully – out of her undies… slipping them down her legs… glad to be rid of them after being in them since she’d got changed in the shower block…

He kicked off his boots and dropped his jeans… he wasn’t wearing anything underneath… 

She stared and licked her lips (she couldn’t help it…) and realised that she hadn’t actually seen him entirely naked before in daylight – he’d still been (mostly) wearing his jeans in his trailer – and in the shower block… 

He was standing there dirty and scarred and covered in almost as many bruises as she was but he was still incredible; his chest and arms toned and beautifully muscled (she had a flashback to him sweating and fighting in Gould’s tent…), his legs long and well shaped, covered in little golden hairs… his feet strong and finely made… 

Her eyes travelled upwards again and hovered over his - very nice - cock and balls, sitting framed in dark golden curls that were thick around the junction of his legs then thinned into a lovely line that travelled up to his belly button and then further, up to his lightly outline the taut muscles of his chest, then her eyes dropped, back down…

His cock thickened and grew as she watched… she glanced up again and met his eyes, fixed on her; they seemed to be glowing in the morning light…haloed by curly hair outlined in gold by a sunbeam coming through the trees…

She took a deep breath…wow…’what did Adam mean when he said he’d heard about you and women, Bass?’ 

He shrugged, noncommittal… ‘I don’t know…maybe it’s that women seem to like me I guess…’ He sounded a little embarrassed...although he didn’t need to be… he was amazing… 

She could understand women falling over themselves to be with him... Charlie looked down at herself, bringing her knees up to her chin, hugging them… she was battered and bruised and didn’t feel attractive at all…not compared to him… 

Bass saw, of course, and he dropped to his knees down beside her…’Hey…Charlie… you’re beautiful, and strong and sexy as hell…even covered in bruises and dirt…’ he put a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to him, dropping a kiss onto her lips… ‘Do you remember what I said to you outside Gould’s tent – when I had you on the ground?’ 

She nodded, her eyes still avoiding his though…

‘Well I meant it… you could have anyone you wanted…and if it happened to be me, I’d count myself very lucky…’ he bent down so that he could look in her eyes… 

She gave him a little smile, still unsure around the edges…

He hated seeing her so… unlike herself… ‘Come on Charlie…’ he punched her gently on the chin… ‘You’ll feel much better once you’re clean…then you can be a pain in my ass again…’ 

She bristled ‘hey, pain in your ass…?’ 

He grinned and helped her up onto her feet… ‘That’s better…’

She shook her head, her mouth twitching…’bastard…’

Walking the few steps over to the soap, Bass picked it up along with one of the buckets and helped her along to the edge of the water… 

It was quite shallow where they were standing, the water clear and flowing quietly over sand and small pebbles… Closer to the centre of the river it was deeper – running faster… They walked in, side by side until the water was halfway up Charlie’s calves; her feet sinking slightly into the sandy bottom…The air was warming up really quickly and the cool water felt wonderful against her skin… 

Bass filled the bucket with water and set it up next to Charlie’s legs… then he knelt down in the sand and started with her legs, working the soap into lather up and down her strongly muscled lower legs and thighs, standing up then and working over her full, firm buttocks and straight back, up over her belly and breasts, running his fingers softly over her nipples, teasing them into coming to peaks with the cool water and his soapy fingers… 

Charlie felt herself relaxing, breath coming faster as he worked over her body… She half closed her eyes, letting him wash her arms, her hands, fingers… 

He moved up to her neck and shoulders, massaging gently, avoiding the wounds on her shoulder… 

Charlie sighed…the bone deep soreness leaving her body, the sun warm on her skin, the water cool and beautiful… his hands magic, she leaned back against him, her head in the curve oh his shoulder, his tall, hard muscled body a wonderful strength behind her…

Bass was leaving parts of her for last because he really didn’t think he’d be able to concentrate if he went there now… his dick was already at more than half-mast, although he was trying very hard to keep things slow… He cleared his throat…‘Sit down and I’ll do your hair Charlie…’ 

Her eyes had closed and she was swaying a little in his hands… ‘Okay…then I get to wash you…’ her voice was hazy and relaxed… 

He smiled…’That’d be nice…’ He had a quick look around, the birds and insects were used to their presence now and there were morning sounds all around them, things seemed fine… 

He picked her up, soap and all, her skin glistening in the sunlight; streaks of soapy water running off her body… and set her down onto the soft, sandy riverbed… 

Charlie leaned her head back into the stream and let the water soak her hair; it trickled and bubbled over her scalp and neck, carrying her hair away from her with little gentle water fingers… she lay back and closed her eyes…feeling the sun on her eyelids, on her skin…

Bass knelt behind her, and started washing her hair, rubbing and squeezing soap through the dark blonde strands until the water ran clear around his knees, bubbles disappearing down river… 

She gazed up at him, sighing with pleasure… 

He was intent on what he was doing… those blue eyes focused on her hair, his hands, rubbing her scalp, stroking the long strands until they were clean and rinsed clear… 

No one had done this for her before, no one had ever taken such care of her… and he seemed to be enjoying it… He was such a mixture of things…so good at killing, but so…caring, understanding just what she needed…

’I love your hair Charlie…’ he said quietly, stroking his fingers through the wet strands, letting the current float it over her shoulders… ‘It’s beautiful… you look like a mermaid lying there…’ 

She laughed up at him, almost delirious with pleasure, wellbeing… ‘I know what mermaids are…but I don’t have a tail...’ 

His gaze travelled down her body…then back up to meet hers, his blue eyes hot, intense… ‘And am I glad about that…’ He moved around to lie beside her, the soap in his hand…and slid it down, over her flanks and down further to the darker curls between her legs, running it gently over the soft folds between her legs…   
She gasped as his soapy hand moved back and forwards, the hard cake rubbing against her clit making her squirm, the friction making her belly tight; her centre liquid, like the river... She twisted her hip over and lifted her leg up so that he could reach all the way between her legs…

He sat up a little, bending a knee to support his weight, the other leg stretched out in the water, sand hollowing under the tight curves of flesh…and he stroked his other hand down her body, soaping over her back and ass… 

Over the taut muscles of his bent leg she could see the thick, smooth shaft of his cock rising proudly against the taut skin of his belly with its dusting of golden hair…river water making little eddies around his balls and butt… Charlie reached out to it, running her left hand over the leg and down, circling his cock with her fingers, moving them up and down over the silky skin… She felt him grow harder and the hands on her body became more urgent… ‘Bass…?’ 

He paused…’Is this ok Charlie…?’ his voice was a little strained… 

She laughed…’Oh yeah…’ she took her hand off his cock and ran it up his chest…’It’s just… I’ve never done this in a river before…’ 

He grinned, eyes glowing down at her…’want to try it…?’ 

She sat up…droplets from her hair streaming down her face and arms…’Can I go on top?’ 

His grin got wider…’Charlie…you can have whatever you like…’ 

He lay down flat, water streaming around his head and shoulders… little streamlets wandering over his arms, pooling on his belly and between his legs… 

Charlie straddled him; her knees bent back in the soft sand, her pussy resting on the top of his thighs …looking down at him as he watched her… 

She had been wanting to put her hands all over him since she had seen him standing in front of her and she wanted to wash him like he had her… but first she really needed to feel him inside her… 

He stroked his hands up her thighs and up to her waist, his hands large enough to stroke around the undersides of her breasts; his eyes holding hers… 

She arched her back, rubbing her pussy along the wonderfully hard length of his cock, then, reaching down she took him in her hand, rising up on her knees, guiding him through her wet folds, feeling the head of his cock, hot and hard, parting her soapy folds, she paused there for a moment, just enjoying the feel of him there… his breath and hers coming faster, in unison…his eyes holding hers…

She sank down, taking him inside… gasping as he slid inside her, so thick, his length stretching her out and filling her up…his cock hot and hard inside her, pulsing with his life, his energy…. the water around them cool on her skin, little ripples and reflections dancing, the breeze and the sun on her back and in her eyes making her feel light and golden… 

She leaned forward, resting her hands on his shoulders…lifting up, almost all the way, then sliding down again, over his velvet hardness, the head of his cock breaching her again each time… the delicious friction between them building each time…each breath a little faster, each movement a little harder, faster…

His hands were tight on her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh, as he lifted her up and pulled her down to a faster and faster rhythm that sent little wavelets and splashes travelling down their legs, between their bodies…

Charlie felt herself slipping, like the golden, hard muscled, panting man underneath her into a sweet and wonderful explosion that had her falling towards him panting and gasping for breath, feeling Bass lift her at the very last moment, spilling himself between their bodies with a shuddering gasp... 

She lay spooned along his warm body, the water trickling and rippling past them on its way downstream, the sun getting hotter on her back and legs as it got higher in the sky… feeling better than she could remember feeling for a very, very long time... and reaching up she found his lips waiting for her again, catching hers in a long, deep kiss that left her dizzy with pleasure…

They would go to Willoughby and try to sort things out with Miles and her Mom… but if it didn’t work out there, then they would have each other… and she didn’t mind that option one little bit…

……………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Well, there it is… I hope you liked it – I’ve written a couple of follow on chapters about Bass and Charlie’s adventures on the road, so they’ll be coming up next, please leave a comment if you have a moment, I love them… cheers ☺ Magpie

**Author's Note:**

> AN: thanks so much for reading… I’m getting the other chapters ready to go, so they should be up soon, all the best, Magpie ☺


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